"Dear God, if they land on this beach, they will be slaughtered."
During the hours of that day, the men remained in the thicket on the cliffs, straining their eyes towards the horizon, planning what they would do. They decided to wait until nightfall and get as close as they could to the bunker at the right‑hand end of the cliffs. That position was strategic as it was a little higher than the rest of the area.
It was 6: 00 a.m. the next day. Without taking his eyes away from the small pair of binoculars he held in his hand, Pierre suddenly awakened the two sleeping men with his hand and said,
"There they are!" Jerry shook the sleep from his eyes, took hold of the glasses and uttered,
"Look at that sight . . . " It truly was an awesome spectacle. It was still dark, but the entire horizon glowed with the pre‑dawn sun and stood as a backdrop for the blackened silhouettes of 5,000 battleships . . . Allied battleships. Jerry stared at the sight. This was the trumpet‑blowing cavalry coming for the remnant of fighting soldiers. It was a realization of the prayers of millions in war‑torn Europe.
Little did he know that the majority of troops who landed on the D-Day beaches were from the United Kingdom, Canada and the U.S. but that there were also courageous soldiers Australia, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, France, Greece, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and Poland.
There was no time to spare. The three men quickly covered their faces with charcoal and scurried down the hillside towards the first bunker. They knew that every German eye would be toward the horizon. With the glow of the pre‑dawn sun, they could see the outline of two men sitting beside a large machinegun. One had his hand readied on top of the weapon and his eyes on the horizon. The other was also staring silently in the same direction, as steam rose from his right hand revealing that he was holding onto a hot drink. In the cold hush of the morning the three resistance fighters silently slid down into the bunker. Either the Germans thought it was their friends joining them in the bunker, or they were so intent on the enemy in front of them they didn't hear the enemy behind them. It was almost too easy as the three resistance fighters cupped their hands over the mouths of the Germans, pulled them to the ground and thrust their knives into their bodies. They quickly pulled them to one side, stripped them of their jackets and helmets, then Pierre and Jerry put them on and took hold of the machinegun. The next outpost was a mere sixty feet away, but the operation had been so quiet they hadn't aroused any suspicion.
To be continued.
