Pandemonium on the Beach

We knew we had to go in. We knew we had to assemble and we were going in with the second wave. We had to assemble the unit together, those who survived. But you could see the purpose of breaking us up into various landing craft. If one landing craft got hit and they were all on it, there wouldn’t be any unit at all. So when we were coming in we landed at Bernières-sur-Mer to the right of it. And first, well we were awfully sea sick because it was an awful bumpy voyage, you know, the waves and the motion. I’m not a good sailor in that respect. And we went and brought up a many a meal over the side. I had some fortifying rum and water in my mess tin and I was sipping that. But it was pandemonium on the beach, you know. The big shells going over and these salvos from the big battle ships and cruisers and destroyers and barrages of rockets from LCT’s, going over in sheets and the noise on the beach and everything and, of course, we were anxious to get going, you know. And we didn’t realize the extent of what was there for us, you know. But we wanted to get off that ship as much as possible. And when the ramp finally landed and I went out and I glanced to my right and there was a dead infantryman on his back and the sea was coming up over him and he had his hands in the high port position. Now the high port position is how they hold their rifle to wade ashore or in the bayonet thrust. And he was rigid like that and I figured, well, lots of that’s ahead. I figured he got hit before he got to the shore. And then there was all kinds of mortars and shells and bullets cracking around and it was pandemonium, you know, and there was a beachmaster there telling us to get the hell off the beach.