D-day stories

[marcus69x]

Hi guys, I mentioned in another thread about a book I've been reading called 'Remembering D-day' by Martin Bowman. It's full of little stories and personal accounts from the soldiers on that famous day. Anyway I was bored so I thought I'd post you some of my favourites. Extract from 'Currahee!' by Donald Burgett, 19 506th parachute regiment, 101st Screaming Eagles division. 'Currahee!' was the only ww2 booked endorsed by General Eisenhower, who called it a "fascinating tale of personal combat". "Inside the other planes I could see the glowing red tips of the cigarettes as the men puffed away. It was weirdly beautiful, lots of sparks and tracer shells. But I knew that between every tracer shell are four armour-piercing bullets. "Let's go", shouted Lt. Muir and we began moving in what seemed like slow motion towards the open doorway as the green 'Go' light spread a glow across our faces. (In the hours before D-day we had been given our objectives -- capture the bridges over the rivers and canals around Caranten and secure the exits from Utah beach -- and told to burn personal possesions like letters from home. There were bonfires across the camp. When the ashes could be raked out we used them to blacken our faces for the drops. We looked like Racoons. Several of the guys broke into the Al Jolson 'Mammy' song which helped relieve the tension. Singing might have lightened the emotional burdens but not the phsyical ones. If mules were the slave carries of WW1 then the paratrooper of WW2 was it's two leged equivalent. Our equipment must have weighed over 100 lb.) It seemed like forever but in fractions of seconds I was at the door and tumbling into space. Tracer shells were coming up towards me. As I looked up to check the canopy, I hit the ground backwards so hard I was stunned, unable to move. His aircraft had strayed off course and dropped them 9 miles away near Ravenoville. In the light rain of that early morning he crawled on his belly across a field only to hear rustling. I thought it was the enemy so I raised my rifle. Sweat was pouring off me. I knew I was about to kill a human being and it was a terrible thought. Suddenly this guy began crawling towards me. As my finger tightened on the trigger I recognised him as a pal called Hundly. Hi throat was so dry with fear he couldn't even speak!" After surviving machine-gun strafes across the field from a gun hidden in a hedgerow, Don linked up with several other survivors to begin the march onto Ravenoville. "There were about 200 germans down one end of town and about 20 of us. They began hand-grenading houses. I got a bead on one of them and squeezed. There was a slight vapour that came from his body. He buckled then fell. It was done and it didn't bother me. Another came around the corner. I shot him in the chest. He fell too. But they got four of our guys from a heavy machine-gun burst from a window in a house. The guys lay there were they fell. 'The next day we began to march on our objectives but were halted by heavy german machine-guns placed outside of town. Several times we tried to break through but were driven back. We decided to march the german prisoners onto the guns, figuering they would cut down their own. They did. As the germans creamed, "Nicht scheissen, Nicht scheissen", they were cut down. Then they made a beak for it and we shot them down from the rear. None survived. 'On the road to Carentan a Sherman tank used it's tracks to run over three Germans in a fortified trench. Their screams could be heard above the engines whine. Then we came into conflict with an ss battalion and mounted Cossacks [White Russians on horseback who deserted Stalin to fight for Hitler]. On the outskirts of the town of st come du mont there was another ferocious firefight in which the germans were beaten back before launching an even more ferocious counter-attack. The roads, fields, ditches were littered with the dead. I nearly got it from a German except a medic with a long-barralad cowboy revolver got him first. I shot a blonde haired german crawling to a farm house to get more mortar shells to lob onto us. I saw his blonde hair and it agitated me. Then it became clear to me: I wanted his scalp. The prize was nearly within reach when rifle fire opened up and I was forced to dive behind a hedgerow. Twice more I tried to reach him but each time I was driven back by stubborn squareheads. I decided to forget the whole thing. Finally a tank, one of ours, came up an raked the hedgerow with cannon and machine-gun fire. Wheh he was out of ammo he said he would be back with more. He set off down the road to make beter time instead of crossing the fields. It was a big mistake. A German 88 opened up and the tank started to burn. The crew were all killed, the commander burning in the turret. We called up artillary and those germans were wasted in a rain of high explosives. "The next day we were on the outskirts of Carentan and I was asked to go back to regimental HQ with vital information on german positions they didn't trust being radioed. I had to back through 'Where' the heaviest fighting had been the day before. The road was a river of gore. When I came to the end I felt as if I had left a world of darkness for a world of sunlight. 'Crawling to investigate what lay behind a thick hedgerow, I was confronted with e German lobbing a stick grenade in my face. I went after it to return it but it went off inches from my fingertips. It was an orange ball that gave off a real furnace heat. I passed out. When consciousness came back I was stone deaf but otherwise Ok. I have heard that a person can be in just the right place in a explosion and live. I must have found the right spot. 'I was walking to the rear with mortar shells still exploding around me. Shrapnel from an 88 went into my arm and ripped it open. I didn't lose a teaspoon of blood but my main artery was hanging out like a rubber tube, dangling there as I could put 4 fingers on the exposed bone. 'D-day was the most momentous moment of my life. I killed so many Germans I lost count. Would I do it again? It's a hard question. Everyone loses in war, everyone. War isn't like in the movies. never will be. It was dirty and dehumanizing and disgusting. You never stopped for your buddies in a field. Even your best pal. You stopped and they got a bead on you and you were next. You left them behind, dead, dying or just grazed. Hell war is all politics anyway. We did to each other because they made us. I just hope that when they make their fine speeches on the beachheads they remember what happened. I do. Every night of the year. The images of the dead always wake me up." More to follow.............

[marcus69x]

Helmut Romer and Erwin Sauer, Both 18 who were on sentry duty at Pegasus bridge over the Caen canal. "Suddenly, we heard a swishing noise and saw a large, silent aircraft flying low towards the canal bridge. It crashed into a small field next to the bridge, only about 50 meters away. Ay first we thought it was a crippled bomber. We wondered wether to take a look at it or wake our sergeant. We were moving forward cautiously when we heard what sounded like running feet. before we knew it, a bunch of about 10 wild-lookin men who were running towards us confronted us. They were armed but didn't shoot. I found out later this was because they were under strict orders to maintain silence for aslong as possible so that they had surprise on their side when the stormed the pillboxes by the bridge. We were two boys alone and we ran. We could see that these menacing, war-like looking men out numbered us. But I still managed to fire off a warning flare to warn the rest of our garrison of about 20 men who were sleeping nearby. 'About 100 meters off, we plunged into some thick bushes by the track running along side the canal. There were two more crashes. We knew that the british were landing in force. Firing had started all around the bridge and we could see tracer bullets whizzing in all directions. At first it was non-stop, but then it died down to occasional bursts. It was clear that the british were rooting out the rest of our garrison from the bunkers around the bridge. 'We remained hidden throughout the night, scared to move incase we would be seen and shot. Sometime after noon next day, we heard and saw some more troops with a piper at their head moving from the direction of the beaches to cross the bridge. I found out later they were Lord Lovat's Commando Brigade. We stayed under cover for the rest of the day and the night. Then, hungry and thirsty, we decided to surrender. We plucked up the courage, put our hands in the air and walked out of the bushes. The british didn't fire at us. I'll always be grateful to them for that. We knew it was the end of the war for us and we were bloody glad of it.

[marcus69x]

Private Bill Bidmead A troop, No. 4 commando, who wre shelled and mortared continuously for five days. (Sword beach) "That afternoon, No. 4 Commando linked up with the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry glider force that had seized Pegasus bridge. It was still under fire and the commandos had to run across in two and threes. One officer was killed crossing the bridge. A soldier accompanying him was deeply upset by his loss and came across three german prisoners sitting beside the bridge. One cried out for water. The soldier said, "I'll give you water," and shot them. Nothing was said atthe time, but the soldier was later killed himself. Funny thing; you usually found that if someone went out of their way to kill someone, they generally ended up dead themselves. 'I got my head down, but someone tapped on my helmet and whispered, "Germans!" Moving forward out of a wood were dozens of coal-scuttle helmeted soldiers. Alongside me a Welsh Guardsman, Taff Hughes, picked up his Vickers K gun and opened fire. A stick grenade exploded infront of my trench. Shrapnel hit my lip and my mouth was smothered in blood. The force of the explosion flung me to the bottom of the trench and I heard someone say, "Young Bid's had it". 'The germans made one last attack, but we cut them to pieces. A patrol went out and counted 250 german dead. Later, an 80 strong detatchment of bicycle mounted reinforcments halted opposite our possition. they were exhausted, having cycled all the way from Paris. As they dismounted and threw their kit down, we opened fire. It took 30 minutes ti kill them all". No. 4 Commando remained in the front line for 83 days. Of it's original 700-strong complement, only 70 remained unwounded.

[marcus69x]

Citation, CSM Stan Hollis, Green Howards the only man to win the VC on D-day. Gold Beach "During the assault on the beaches and the Mont Fleury battery, CSM Hollis's company commander noticed that two of the pill boxes had been bypassed, and went with CSM Hollis to see that they were clear. When they were 20 yards from the pillbox a machine-gun opened fire from the slit, and CSM Hollis instantly rushed straight to the pillbox, recharged his magazine, threw a grenade through the door and fired his Sten gun into it, killing two Germans and taking the remander prisoner. He then cleared several Germans from a neighbouring trench. By his action he undoubtedly saved the company from being heavily fired on from the rear, and enebled them to open the main beach exit. Later the same day, in the village of Crepon, the company encountered a field gun and crew, armed with Spandaus, at a hundred yards' range. CSM Hollis was put in command of a party to cover an attack on the gun, but the movement was held up. Seeing this, CSM Hollis pushed right forward to engage the gun with a PIAT [Projector Infantry Anti-tank] from a house at 50 yards range. He was observed by a sniper who fired and grazed his right cheek, and at the same time the gun swung round and fired at point blank range into the house. To avoid the falling masonry CSM Hollis moved his party to an alternative position. Two of the enemy gun crew had by this time been killed, and the gun was destroyed shortly afterwards. He later found that two of his men had stayed behind in the house, and immediately volunteered to get them out. In full view of the enemy, who were continually firing at him, he went forward alone using only a Bren gun to distract their attention from the other men. Under cover of his diversions the two men were able to get back. "Wherever fighting was heaviest CSM Hollis appeared, and in the course of a magnificent day's work he displayed the utmost gallantry, and on two separate occasions his courage and initiative prevented the enemy from holding up the advance at critical stages. It was largely through his heroism and resource that the company's objectives were gained and casualties were not heavier and, by his own bravery, he saved the lives of many of his men".

[Marina]

Thanks, Marcus - I enjoyed reading these.
Marina

[marcus69x]

No probs. Glad you like 'em. Took me long enough.

[Rich]

Hey Marcus have you read the Donald Burgett books? It was from reading that extract in 'Remembering D-Day' that prompted me to buy all four 'Currahee' books. You can get them on Amazon and they're well worth reading IMO..

Rich.

[sapper]

The most heroic deed that took place anywhere on the Normandy invasion coast was that of Lt Arthur Heal RE CeG.
Yet like a great deal that occurred in the Third British Infantry Division, little is known about his heroism. Or come to that damn near anything that the great "Iron Division" accomplished.
They landed on Sword against the most heavily defended area anywhere in Normandy. With great determination, took it. Much of what was achieved was down to the sacrifices of the Sappers that landed first and took out the defences.

They thrust forward and the Sappers arrived minutes before the relieving Commandos. Yet not a word. It was the same Div that took over, and held the bridge while bridging and rafting

The bridge was out of bounds for tanks and heavy armoured vehicles. If I recall correctly, on the orders of the CRE. Colonel Tiger Urquart They captured Hermanville, and were responsible for ringing the first church bells of freedom in Western Europe. I have a recording!

The USA always claimed that Sword was an Easy landing...It never was, What made it the success it became... was the disciplined fighting qualities. Nowhere in Normandy did any invading troops have to face up to the massive defences, that faced the Third British Infantry Division Monty's Ironsides"

Yet it would be difficult to read anything about them.
Sapper
Eighth Brigade
Iron Div.

[marcus69x]

Originally Posted by Rich

Hey Marcus have you read the Donald Burgett books? It was from reading that extract in 'Remembering D-Day' that prompted me to buy all four 'Currahee' books. You can get them on Amazon and they're well worth reading IMO..

Hi Rich. No I haven't read any of them yet. Been looking around different book shops but haven't been able to find any.

Someone told me you can only get them on Amazon, but I don't like buying things on the net. Too many dodgy dealers.

But Amazon's a reputable site, so I might whack 'em on my card. Cheers.

[marcus69x]

Originally Posted by sapper

Yet it would be difficult to read anything about them.

[quote=sapper;95286]

Always annoys me how some divisions get more recognised than others.

Don't get me wrong though, If a particular company or division gets recognised for what they achieved then I think it's only fair that they do. But I know what you're saying about other divisions that showed an equal amount a bravery and courage (and in some cases, more) that most people will never hear about.

Never understood that.

Marcus.