Hey, it's me again! Anyway, here's a little story I wrote back in high school for my english 12 class. Got me 39 out of 40. I know.
My legs are killing me. All I wanted was a cushy job post, far away from the war, my pay, and a decent meal with a drink. So how is it I am leading a rag tag army of villagers, farmers, and Resistance fighters? How did I end up becoming the living symbol for liberty, freedom, righteousness and all that other crap I don't believe in? I should have never gotten on that plane.
Let me start at the beginning. My name is Johnathan Emerson. I am an officer of the 8th Royal Field Artillery of the British Expeditionary Force. I was once an office worker with the British Land Company before the Great Depression. I joined the Army originally as a field grunt, but an ensign with a weakness for card games had me transferred as a field officer to an obscure artillery unit. Now I must tell you, it is tiresome to lug all that gear around and you need earplugs constantly, but chucking shells on the enemy far behind the line is by far a great deal better than being on the front with shells whistling all around you.
Anyway, I had just been on leave in Blighty (slang for England) and by luck, I was set to return by plane in the tow of some fop of a general. Unfortunately, Jerry (Germans) caught wind of it and our plane ended up getting shot out of the air by the Luftwaffe (German Air Force). As the plane began to fall, we all jumped out. The general, pilots, and aides all jumped before me and as I did, I saw that they had all pulled there parachutes already. I was about to pull mine when I saw a German fly through dusk, guns blazing, and watched them plummet. I decided it was better to pull closer to the ground with the risk of getting jerked and breaking a few bones then it was to be a sitting duck for the Luftwaffe. I ended up being the only one to make it down.
After I cut myself loose from my parachute, I headed in the direction of a small farm I saw as I parachuted down. As I drew closer I decided to do some recon before I approached the farm because I had no idea whether I was in Allied or German territory.
As I hid in the bushes on the outskirts of the farm, I noticed a couple doing their chores, tending the small garden and the meager crop of wheat. The man was of medium build, had short cropped hair, and was wearing a blue tunic and grey pants. The woman was small with auburn hair and wore a beige and black dress. I decided to chance it.
"Excuse me," I asked, "could you help me please?" As they turned their faces changed from curiosity to shock and finally relief. "I am an Ally."
The man hurried towards me and whispered "Quickly, come inside, quietly." I took this as a good sign. They took me inside and led me to a small room on the second floor. It was bland, only containing a small bed and a window with dark curtains. As he closed the curtains he spoke to himself excitedly in French. Then he told me "My wife will call the others, stay here and do not open the windows. I will bring up some food and drink later."
I happily fell on the bed, confident that I would soon be back with my battery team, and promptly fell asleep. I later awoke to find a tray laden with fruit, cheese, and bread on the floor along side a jug of water.
Soon after I polished the food the woman entered the room and asked me to follow her to the cellar to meet the others. As I entered the cellar the woman closed the door behind us and I found myself among three dozen armed men and women. "The leaders of the Resistance." she said as if reading my mind.
A man carrying a Lee-Enfield rifle stepped forward and confided "We had begun to think that the Allies had forgotten us. What is your name?"
"Field Officer Johnathan Emerson of The British Expeditionary Force ma'am."
A woman with brown hair and a MP-40 nodded saying "I am Jeane Weller. The Germans have been starving our towns for the past year, taking most of our food for themselves along with many of our homes. We've been waiting for word from the Allies on what support they would be able to provide us. But where is the rest of your regiment?"
It suddenly dawned on me that they thought I was the reinforcements the Allies were sending to help them. Bloody hell! I had to think quickly before they realised that I was just a field-sergeant, otherwise they might throw me to Jerry. "My squad dropped off target and were shot down by the Luftwaffe. Actually, we did not here to help you take back your land."
"Quel?" exclaimed a man carrying Mills bombs and a Thompson. "How could they?"
"Calm down." I explained. "While we cannot help you take back your land yet we did bring supplies for you. Unfortunately, Jerry has them now."
"Si ce que maintenant? So what now?" fumed the Lee-Enfield holder.
I coughed and replied "My mission had two objectives. One, resupply your ammo and rations and provide you with explosives and more arms."
"Et le second objective?"
"Bring your people back with me to Allied territory."
The room exploded with shouts, cries, and curses, some of which would shock even a hardened veteran like myself. Eventually the woman with the MP-40 calmed everyone down and asked me "Why should we leave our homes to go with you?"
"Because we can supply you and we need your information and expertise. And because if you don't, your people will starve to death." I retorted. They began to murmur amongst themselves, many of them stealing furious glances at me. I decided to take the initiative. "I know how hard it must be for you, but look at it this way. You will be taking your families away from this oppression and helping us learn how to defeat the Germans. What is the point of staying if you will all die pointless deaths? At least this way you will live to fight another day so you can come back and take back your land. I am leaving in two days for the Allied lines. Any one who wants to join me, meet me in the forest then." I walked out right then, leaving them in silence.
Later that night, Jeane came into my room. Now that I was alone with her, I noticed how striking she was. She had shoulder length hair, a slim figure, and alluring hazel eyes. "We have decided. We shall come with you, but you had better be right about the shelter the Allies will provide."
"Don't worry," I answered, "You will be taken care of."
"You better be damn sure. We're planning our route and we'd like you to help us."
"Alright."
Back in the cellar, they had set up a table with a map of the area. We were approximately one hundred thirty kilometers from the Allied lines north of us. We had roughly five hundred people to take and only enough supplies for a week on what would probably be a ten day march through muddy plains, forest, and over a mountain. There would also be German patrols to worry about and we would have to cover our tracks as we went. Finally, we would have to sneak past the German line and pass through roughly four miles of mud, trenches, and barbed wire to get back to Allied territory. It was a recipe for disaster.
We began our march the following morning. We were a motley crew comprised of displaced villagers, farmers, and about sixty odd Resistance fighters. We had about one hundred arms with only about seventy people with any experience using guns, mostly for shooting game. I detailed twenty with backgrounds in woodcraft to scout the land guide us through the woods up front, and another fifteen to cover our tracks and set false trails. As we went, we scavenged to help supplement our supplies while we were still in the woods because we all knew that once we reached the mountains there would be little to scavenge and heavier patrols. We walked in relative silence the entire day, jumping at every sudden movement. When we finally set camp, we had made about fifteen kilometers. There was much discontent among the people, many of which were not used to so much travel and moral was low. I had banned fires for the obvious reason that it would be an obvious signal to any patrols, but I was only armed with a Colt M19 as there were only so many rifles and sub machine guns and it was obvious that if I gave the people a reason to, they would tear me to pieces. I also detailed about thirty of the Resistance fighters to three shifts of sentry duty. As I sat down and waited for my shift on sentry duty, Jeane sat down beside me, blinking tears away. When I asked why she just pointed to the smoke rising behind us.
"When they came, the Germans terrorized our village. Those that did stand up were killed. They took most of our crops and supplies and offered no compensation. Our land was all we had left."
"You still have your lives and each other." She stood up and shook with barely controlled anger.
She looked back at the smoke and said "We have lived there for generations. Do you know how hard it is to leave the land our families have lived their entire lives on?"
"Actually, yes. My family had to leave Ireland after the Great Irish Potato Famine. My parents ended up dying in a factory when I was twelve. I was lived in an orphanage for six years. I joined the army to get away from all that." I was left in an awkward silence after that.
We reached the mountains on the seventh day and decided to set up camp at the base and continue the next day. We had made better time than I had expected and there had been no incidents yet, but the hardest part was next. We had sneak through the mountains, get past the German lines, go through about two kilometers of No Man's Land, and finally convince the Allies that we were friendlies without getting killed. Not to mention the fact that the Germans and Allies would probably be shelling each other the whole time. Bloody hell, I had no idea how I could get through this with all of them in tow. And now the people were beginning to think that I was there savior, that I would get them through this to safety, even if it meant dying for them. Yeah right. All I had done was taken try to get back to the relative safety of my old post and they had just come along with me. "Johnathan," called Jeane, "the Resistance fighters would like to speak with you."
All the leaders from that day in the cellar were there and they all held a grim expression. "We'd like to ask for your advise on how we are going to make it through the German line tomorrow." Bloody hell.
"We'll have to break through on the other side after disabling a small section of the line." I explained. "If we can take over a few of the concrete bunkers, we can take their weapons and hopefully hold out until we can get the Allies to support us while we pass through No Man's Land. Without artillery support, we'd be open to counter attacks from our flanks. Therefore we must also send an advance team to the Allied lines to get into contact with the artillery teams. They will have no support fire but if even one of them can get through, we can direct fire to our flanks and rear to cover the rest of us."
"But how will they get through without getting cut down by the Allies?" exclaimed one of the men.
"They will have to go through unarmed and dressed in civilian clothing. Our men will not fire on people they think are refugees. But it will need to be a small group. No more than five. Then we will have to send some back to tell the others and lead them on over." I replied.
Another asked "Who should we send ahead?"
"It's obvious isn't it. Send Johnathan."
I turned around, shocked to see that Jeane had volunteered me for the most difficult part of the mission. "Why me?"
"Two reasons," Jeane explained, "first, you are the only one with any standing among the Allied army. They are more likely to listen to you than they are us. Second, for some reason our people trust you now." Bloody hell. There's no way out now. Seeing my still shocked expression, Jeane smirked mischievously and continued "Don't worry, I'll be right there with you after we take the line." Once again, bloody hell.
The assault began just before dawn, about an hour before most soldiers were woken. We snuck in quietly. Before they knew it, there were grenades in the bunkers and barracks. I had to hand it to them, for them, sabotage was an art. As they began to fill in to the bunkers, Jeane, myself, and three others began to warily cross No Man's Land by movement from crater to muddy crater. We were about fifty meters out from the bunkers when one of the men screamed clutching his arm.
"Stick him in a hole then keep moving!" I screamed. Jeane looked back fearfully as I yelled "We can't slow down. The others will have to pick him up as they go. And stay low to minimize the target." We ran on, running past dead bodies and over barbed wire, trying desperately to get across alive. In the distance behind us we heard the great thumping sounds of artillery and above I heard a noise I had feared since the plane crash. Luftwaffe.
I rallied the four of us shouting "Come on, the others are counting on us." as I pushed forward through the falling shells. We sprinted on for what seemed like hours and as we came in sight of the trench lines I began calling to them shouting "We are Allies, don't shoot!" as thunder poured around us and in my ears. As I dove into the trench a shell fell amongst Jeane and the others and Jeane was pitched into the trench. As the other man was carried in I asked the officer "What happened to the other man?"
"Blown to pieces. These two were hit with shrapnel and I think this one is concussed. It's a miracle you guys made it across."
Jeane stirred and the officer and I came to her side. She looked at me and said, "Looks like you will have to go back without me."
The officer looked at her, then me and asked guardedly "Go back where?"
"Back to get the others." she said and then grimaced in pain.
"I'm not sending my men over there." stated the officer to me bluntly. "You'll have to go alone." Bloody hell.
"Well then I'm going to need you to get me some artillery support to cover our flanks and rear, as well as silence those guns."
"Fine," replied the officer, "I'll get them firing right now." as he motioned to a runner. I turned back to the German line, knowing I could not shrink from this duty no matter how suicidal it was thanks to that little talk.
I rose and began to run back through No Man's Land, fully knowing that the enemy would now be expecting an attack and that it was likely they would concentrate fire on me. My only hopes were the others in the concrete bunkers covering my back, pending they were not overrun yet, and the incoming artillery, if the brass would only listen. For some reason, I did something I hadn't done since my parents died. I prayed to the Lord to deliver me. Somehow, I made it back the man we had left behind and surprisingly he was still alive. As I passed I called to him, "We are going back together this time." As I ran into the bunkers I saw that most of them were huddled by the walls. I called out "People, the Allies are going to bombard the German positions on our sides and behind us. We need to get to the Allied lines now!" Most of them just stared at me blankly until three of the Resistance leaders started sounding orders to evacuate. I came up to one of them and said "We need to escort these people across and have a rearguard to cover us."
"Don't worry," he replied anxiously, "I have already set up a rearguard and the rest shall escort the villagers."
As I came out the villagers were beginning to make their way back to the Allied lines. I quickly came up to the crater where I had left the man and I began to walk back with him. Bloody hell, what had come over me?
As we left our positions, the Allied bombardment began, sending thunderous explosions into the positions we had just left. I was soon left with the rearguard in the back as they covered me with rifle fire. It was dawn when we came into sight of the Allied lines when that dreaded sound began to pound in my ears. "Go," I growled, "the Germans are more likely to fire on a group than single units." They looked back at me in that same respect they had given me earlier. As they left me behind they didn't look back.
The Luftwaffe then began to fire on my position. As I stumbled from hole to hole, I saw we were the only ones left as the planes thundered around me. Where was the RFC (Royal Flying Corps) when you needed them? I was fifty meters away when machine gun fire cut across my leg and I screamed and stopped. The others in the line were shouting words of encouragement but all I could hear was the pounding of my heart and the Luftwaffe above me. They lined up for one last run when one of the soldiers on the line started firing tracer rounds from a Lewis gun. As the Luftwaffe scattered above me as I stumbled into the trench and promptly went unconscious.
When I came to, I was in a field hospital surrounded by villagers. Jeane was lying in a bed beside me. As I groggily sat up I asked "How many made it across."
The man from the bunker came forward and smiled as he answered "Everyone."
Bloody hell, looked like the Lord had answered my prayers. As I began to relax a voice called "Field Officer Johnathan Emerson?"
"Present." I replied as a Lieutenant pushed through to my bed.
"In my day we don't get many splendid officers like you. The brass have looked into your files while you were unconscious and have decided to have you transferred back to a front line battalion after your next leave. Can't have an officer like you wasted in an artillery unit can we." Bloody hell.
My English teacher said this was my best work all year. Personally, I just went on a rant me and my brother had.
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