THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 5, 1994 TAG: 9406030637
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: G1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Long
DATELINE: 940605 LENGTH:
\ \ During midday June 5, from 1200 until 1400 hours, I stood behind a twin-barreled machine gun on aircraft watch. A light breeze wafted from the sea over our position, which lay upon a somewhat steep terrain feature bordering the beach.
{REST} I was still very young. I had celebrated my 18th birthday here on this position, and almost half of my comrades were also only 18 or 19 years old.
It was here that several months ago I had seen the sea for the first time. Nothing moved on the calm surface of the water; only the slow swells made their way slowly to the beach.
There were many hours when no one thought about the war. Experiencing the sunsets upon the horizon would permit thoughts to wander from the war, but then would come news from home - news that would serve as a brutal reminder that not only on the front, but also at home a horrible conflict fiercely raged.
With the short report: ``Nothing new on the position,'' I was relieved at my post. During the past weeks, the report had not always been so short: Low-flying dive-bombers would suddenly overfly the coastline; reconnaissance aircraft had overflown their sectors at higher altitudes. Even the peaceful sea had given us a reminder of the brutality of war when two American flight officers had parachuted from a burning (B-17) only to drown and be cast upon the beach by the waves.
During the evening hours on the fifth of June, like so often before, a debate raged in the bunker over the possibility of invasion. The opinions were varied, and with heated argument one group was convinced that the English or Americans would never attempt to land here. The other group could not be persuaded from the opinion that within no more than four weeks the ``Tommys'' and ``Amis'' would be attempting to land on this beach.
After being relieved from my post I and other comrades resumed the task of digging a trench line that was to connect a recently completed gun casemate with the bunker. It was very difficult work to hack out a trench in the rocky ground with pick and shovel, and only a few meters progress was made daily. Additional connecting trenches between the new bunker and the various heavy gun and machine gun positions also remained unfinished.
On the evening of the 5th of June a comrade remarked: ``Guys, we've got to get this trench finished. If there will be any possibility at all the survive an attack, it will only be with the help of this trench.'' It was necessary to put a full day of heavy work into completing the trench.
In February 1944 during his inspection of the defenses of the Normandy coast Field Marshall Rommel had also visited our position. Rommel had sharply criticized not only the lack of defenses constructed at our position, but also those along the entire coastline from Colleville sur mer to Vierville sur mer.
During May and through the beginning of June the aircraft activity increased over us, passing our positions and dropping their deadly load on key railway junctions and road crossings to the rear.
Only once or twice during the week would two German fighter aircraft be seen flying along the coastline. We named them Max and Moritz.
Since Rommel's inspection we constructed tank barriers on the beach at low tide from logs topped with teller mines. Other beach obstacles were the so-called ``Czech hedgehogs'' made from crossed iron beams, and ``Belgian Doors'' from thick steel stakes. Running parallel to the waterline before us was a low wall made of water-worn stones enclosing the beach, and along the wall was laid a mine field for the purpose of protecting us from surprise attack during darkness. There was also a short stretch of tank trench in the direction of St. Laurent. In front of and behind the tank trenches were mine fields, and our position was protected with a tangled ring of barbed wire ``K''-rolls.
Every night foot patrols were sent out to cover the open areas between positions. Trained dogs were sometimes taken on patrol, the importance of which was demonstrated. A patrol from our company was returning from Vierville sur mer as it approached the first position near St. Laurent sur mer. The dog suddenly became excited, and began straining violently against his leash, not in the direction of the position, however, but toward the sea on the opposite side of the patrol route.
The handler assumed that the dog had frightened a rabbit, but suddenly a shot rang out from close range. The patrol immediately dove for cover, shouting to the forward position, and it was immediately known that enemy forces had infiltrated the beach. A flare was fired by the patrol leader, and shots rang out in rapid fire. The other positions came to life, with more flares arching skyward.
The sentries opened fire with weapons fixed within pre-set fire zones, and the firing soon ceased as quickly as it had begun.
Under cover of darkness an English reconnaissance patrol had attempted to infiltrate the position to take prisoners, only to be thwarted by the patrol dog. Several dead English soldiers lay on the beach, and today crosses in the cemetery in St. Laurent sur mer bear witness to the incident.
The alarm call into the bunker at 0100 hours on June 6 woke us from a deep sleep. A comrade stood in the entrance and continued to shout the alarm, to dispel any doubt, and urged us to hurry. We had so often been shaken to our feet by this call in the past weeks that we no longer took the alarms seriously, and some of the men rolled over in their bunks and attempted to sleep.
An NCO appeared in the entrance way behind our comrade and brought us to our feet with the words: ``Guys, this time it's for real. They're coming!'' We sprang to action. With carbines in grasp we ran to our positions. All weariness evaporated. Machine guns, heavy guns, and mortars were prepared. We stood next to our weapons ready for action. The night remained quiet. Soon the first message came from the company. In St. mer Eglise, enemy paratroopers had landed. Large numbers of ships had departed southern English harbors and were headed toward Normandy.
Our coastal sector remained quiet, nothing moved. Was it once again a false alarm? The minutes slowly ticked by. Was this time for real? We stood at our weapons and shivered in the thin summer uniforms. The cook prepared hot red wine. Our senses were again alerted when an NCO appeared and checked our readiness, saying ``when they come don't shoot too soon.'' Then I was again alone at my machine gun.
The silence weighed heavily upon us. The tension continued to build. Soon the sound of bomber squadrons could be detected in the air and faded again in the distance. Like always before, they would fly over our sector. It remained quiet for only a short time and with the morning dawn came more bombers.
{KEYWORDS} D-DAY WORLD WAR II NORMANDY GERMANY MEMOIRS
by CNB