D-Day 0700 Hours (500 hits)
Category: NoneRating: 1.62 on 10 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by digsy (View user info) at 2004-06-04 08:35:22 EDT
After much of Europe had been occupied by the Axis powers for four years, the Allies finally launched their campaign to liberate Western Europe in June 1944. Over three million service personnel were involved in Operation Overlord, which hinged on the success of the Normandy Landings on D-Day. If the German troops were able to prevent the initial landings, the whole campaign would fail.
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I looked at my pals all around me. We all sat silent in the Higgins boat. Just waiting. The waves splashed around us all, salt water lapping onto our dull helmets. Them, like us, untarnished by this whole war. Much like us however, soon to be thrusted through the gears of a machine which would change their lives on this earth forever.
I clutched at my rifle. The M1 Garand, 11 and a half pounds of dead weight for me to carry, as well as the enormous amount of gear I had to haul in my webbing and backpack. I could hardly stand up with this gear, let alone manouvre a battlefield.
The whizzing of shells overhead was now becoming background noise. Our ships, firing from almost 3 miles behind, were bombarding the beaches to our front, in the hope that when we landed, we would have no trouble pushing back the scattered German defenders from their weak positions. Once we landed, we were to rush up the beach, blow a hole in the shingle, and exit through the 2 mud ramps which had been mapped out for us. After this we were to clear the German trenches behind the bunkers and secure the rest of the beach head for our tanks to land. Sounded simple.
The trouble is our platoon consisted mostly of boys, not even past their 21st birthday. Sargeant Hamilton was the most senior, having fought for the British as a tactical advisor in Africa. At 35, he had taken part in 2 of the campaigns in this war, and was about to enter his 3rd. The closest thing any of the rest of us had seen to combat was bayonneting sacks of straw back at base in England.
I couldn't help but think the Hun would sweep us aside like toy soldiers. After all, we had no combat experience, none of us knew what to expect; once the 3 inch steel of the ramp of the boat lowered, we would be faced with an onslaught which would mean that many of us might not be making it home.
I opened my chapped mouth to take a deep breath, as a splash of water hit my face and entered my red raw mouth. The salt tasted bitter in the back of my throat, but I fought the urge to vomit. I clutched the webbing of Miller in front of me, and heaved, fighting back the empty contents of my stomach.
"You OK Johnson?" He barked. His voice wavered on the last syllable of my name. He was just as nervous as I was. He swallowed and faced the front of the landing craft once more.
"Yes Corporal" I stammered, straightening his webbing and clutching my rifle.
The thunderous crashing of shells all around us took a back seat as we felt the engine of the Higgins boat groan and stutter to a halt.
"OK boys, here we go, see you on the beach!"
The doors lowered and the greyness and desolation of the beaches of Normandy slowly moved into view. Bodies of fallen GIs lay strewn around the waves. Men clutching gaping wounds oozing with blood littered the ground around the 5 foot high iron tank obstacles. Small waves turned over corpses with missing limbs. Some couldn't even be described as corpses. Just a small pile of bloody rags which once resembled the uniform of the United States Army.
The 1st wave hadn't cleared a path. We were doomed.
"Johnson, are you going to sit there fucking daydreaming all day, get the fuck off the boat!"
These words suddenly sprung me into life. I clambered down from the iron contraption which had brought us all from the ships which waited further behind us in the channel. Bullets started whizzing all around as, hitting the side of the boat and causing sprays of water over 6 feet high to block our view of the beaches which waited to swallow us whole.
I pulled my rifle into my shoulder and began firing through the spray.
User Reviews
Submitted by K.M (user info) at 2004-06-09 19:55:20 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
This was bad ass. I find it so fucking nuts that this shit happened practically only a stones throw away in modern history. Do you know how many people were involved in the raid? I want to say that 14 000 Canadians were there, but I don't want to put to much emphasis on it because I have no idea where that figure comes from.
Submitted by digsy (user info) at 2004-06-09 19:33:40 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Actually around 90% of the first wave were lost on Omaha beach. To an advancing troop carrier, it would look like a handful had survived compared to the amount that had been wounded/killed.
Thanks for the positive comments guys.
Submitted by Magicaddict (user info) at 2004-06-09 05:58:54 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Good. Could have been a touch longer, but good.
Submitted by Avals (user info) at 2004-06-09 05:35:11 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Well written.
I'm wondering though - is this describing the landings on Omaha beach? None of the other beaches, as far as I know, failed to take the objective with the first wave.
If this is indeed about Omaha, I'd just like to point out that bullets would probably be whizzing by you long before the ramp was lowered.
Submitted by GrizzlyHunter62 (user info) at 2004-06-04 12:36:28 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I talked to a guy who was in the Invasion of Normandy yesterday. He had his knee cap blown off, femur shattered and arm shot within the first moments on the beach, and after 2 hours on the beach, he was taken home. He was kinda laughing about it. I guess after 60 years he can deal with the memory of all that.
Submitted by Yes (user info) at 2004-06-04 12:03:12 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by fluff (user info) at 2004-06-04 10:41:57 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
No Comment
Submitted by PolPot (user info) at 2004-06-04 09:20:21 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
You are the worst piece of shit ever
Submitted by Stin (user info) at 2004-06-04 09:08:10 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Good writing, just watch your use of numerics rather than writing out a whole number. "3rd" is ok for a date, "third" is more appropriate for what you were conveying. Not distracting enough to stop a +2 though.
Submitted by Caulaincourt (user info) at 2004-06-04 08:54:22 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment