Fallen and wounded covered the beach.
The tide brought more and more bodies and wounded.
The bodies did not lie alone but stacked on top of each other.
It was a horrible sight.
D-DAY: THE SOLDIERS' STORY 2/4
Thanks to the spirit of our troops and the new weaponry, -
we can look forward to future events with peace of mind.
You don't have to worry about the future for a second. Everything is going fine.
We were not sure if they would come.
In the last few weeks, rumours started saying that they were coming, -
and things could then hot up.
We worked a lot, -
to fix the omissions of the previous four years.
At Rommel's order, we dug trenches.
I remember very well how on the eve of the landing, -
a frostbitten comrade who came from Russia said, -
that 15-meters of trench is missing between the upper and lower shelter.
He said, "When the Yankees come," -
"we'll only be saved if that piece is done. Otherwise we won't survive."
The weather report had promised very bad weather around June 6th.
It lulled the Germans into a false sense of security, -
that the Allies would not land.
In addition to this, -
the moon phase was, according to German calculations, -
that it would not favor landing.
That's why the Germans thought, -
that nothing would happen in the early days of June.
Allies also hesitate.
It was only at the last minute, June 6, that D―day was locked, -
to attack and land ashore.
We did not know where the landing would take place.
We just knew it would happen.
We thought it would be easiest to try to land over the English Channel.
On the eve of the landing, I had met a teacher of school of Sainte―Marie, -
whom I knew belonged to the resistance movement.
He said that something would happen on the evening of June 5th.
I dealt his speeches with reservation, -
because a lot of unfounded news was spread in the region.
We had been trumpeted of the landing.
We patrolled the beach by night.
We had two dogs: a German Shepherd and a hunting dog.
We patrolled through corridors between the mines.
We had to be careful because there could be spies on the beach.
Some spy was sent by boat to the beach, -
but not to our sector.
We always patrolled two hours at night.
We checked in at different bases.
It was nicer than a guard at the same base.
That becomes monotonous.
I had my first guard until 24:00.
Then I went to the crew bunker.
It was maybe three meters underground. Thick concrete.
At one o'clock a comrade came screaming:
"Alarm!"
There had been so many alarms in recent weeks, -
that we were no longer interested.
We threw him out and told him to leave us alone.
He left without getting us out.
In no time an under-officer came in, -
who screamed:
"Now it's for real, guys!"
At midnight, one o'clock when I was sleeping, -
I woke up to a bomb-like noise.
It came from around the city, -
from the north, or the English Channel.
I climbed into the attic of my parents' house.
I noticed flashes.
I heard planes roaming over the city on the sea side.
We thought this was an invasion.
I picked up the radio,
although at that time it was forbidden to listen English radio.
We listened to it anyway.
The English said they had landed, -
but they didn't say where.
Everyone went and took their guns, -
as they had been trained.
Soon we saw that in the west the sky was flashing like sheet lightning.
They were visible from the direction of Sainte―Mère―Église.
At our base a messenger came to inform, ―
that enemy paratroopers had been dropped there.
So the flashes we saw were anti-aircraft fire.
Then we started hearing the sound of falling bombs.
Bombs were soon falling on the rocky promontory of Pointe du Hoc.
Our heavy artillery was there.
East of us was the Riva Bella Fire Control Station at the mouth of the Orne River, -
that had been bombed for days.
Then time seemed to slow down.
It was quite dark until 5 o'clock.
As the day gradually dawned, we saw ships on the horizon,
like a ghost army.
The day had not yet lighten up but was just dawning,
when an alarm was given.
We looked out.
We saw the first ships slowly begin to approach -
from the horizon towards us.
Barrage balloons were floating over the ships.
First we imagined them as German ships.
Not everyone were in one line, but they came here and there.
Then the first bombers arrived, -
and they bombed us.
Three waves of bomber attacks.
We had to protect ourselves, -
but in practice we did not suffer any losses.
The ships were getting closer and closer, -
and the naval artillery started firing.
We responded to the fire with 75mm cannons.
With our little machine guns, we couldn't do anything.
They were still too far away.
I was sent to the cannons to deliver ammunition.
I was a grenadier, but the projectiles wouldn't have been useful.
The ship's artillery hit us hard.
I was a machine gunner.
I had a Polish heavy machine gun.
In training, we were emphasized, -
that you should not open fire too early.
The enemy had to be allowed to come close.
Then their advance had to be stopped on the beach.
As soon as the boats landed, -
the troops jumped out.
Our intact machine gun nests -
were waiting ready.
In practice, soldiers marched to their deaths.
There was a two-meter gravel barrier at the water's edge.
The Americans first protected themselves behind the gravel barrier.
Then they realized that if they tried it, -
they would become targets.
They first had to go 300 meters of open beach, -
and it meant a massacre for Americans.
We wanted to survive and defend ourselves.
Many Americans stayed there, -
dead or wounded.
The tides washed to the beach -
more and more dead and wounded.