Gunslinger
Natural Born Killer
Brian and Dana were still with Brouchard when Lieutenant Somerville walked into the medical tent about twenty minutes later.
“Vandenberg, come with me. Haner, go and help with sorting out the communications.”
Dana hopped down from the cot, and followed Somerville outside, to where a small group of 15 or so men were gathered in the centre of the small village’s main roadway.
“Lieutenant McKenzie and Captain Cumberland have intelligence that a four gun battery of German 105mm cannons is set up a hundred metres across some hedgerows and open fields, opposite a large farmhouse called Brecourt Manor. The cannons are dug into the hedgerow, connected by a trench system, covered bush and trees. There is a 50 man platoon of infantry defending the cannon and they’ve just gone into action firing onto Utah to the north-east.”
Dana didn’t really like where this conversation was going. She looked at the faces of the young men around her, who were all her age and younger. She was only 22, and some of the men, no rather boys, around her looked as young as 18.
“Major Brookes needs the guns to be taken out”, Somerville continued. “We can only afford to send in one company as we’re still short on men. We need to take care of that battery. Drop all of the equipment that you’re carrying, except weapons, ammo and grenades.” He waited until all of the men and Dana had done so, before continuing to speak. “The attack will be a quick frontal assault supported by a base of fire from different positions as close to the guns as possible.”
The small group took off toward Brecourt Manor, and the closer they got the ground seemed to shake underneath Dana’s feet from the ferocious sound of the 105mm guns that were pounding the marines and infantry attempting to land on Utah Beach.
Somerville directed Privates Morris, Lister, Meville and Holmes to set up their machine guns along the hedge leading toward their objective, with instructions to lay down covering fire. As he was giving out instructions, he spotted a German helmet. The soldier was moving down the trench toward their position, hunched over and with only his head showing above ground. Somerville took aim with his M1 rifle and quickly squeezed off two shots and killed the German solider.
He then turned to Lieutenant Hanson and instructed him to take Pagliaro and O’Shea to crawl over the open field to their left so that they could get as close to the first gun of the battery as possible so that they could throw grenades into the trench. As the men crawled off he instructed Corporal Richland and Private Fenwick to the right, with orders to put a flanking fire into the enemy position.
He set off to lead the charge straight down the hedge, taking with him Privates Hobbs and Castle, and Dana. “Oh great”, Dana thought to herself. “I’m going to die.” She followed behind the men, her shaking hands clutching her M1 rifle.
Gunfire and pops enrupted from around them as the various groups of men that Somerville had spread out began firing and throwing their grenades.
“Follow me!”, Somerville called and the assault team including Dana ran down the hedge toward Lieutenant Hanson. Simultaneously, Pagliaro leaped into the trench beside Hanson. The German crew at the first trench, realizing that they were under attack from three directions, fled. The infantry retreated with them, running along the trench away from Pagliaro, Hanson and O’Shea. The group began to throw grenades at the retreating enemy.
Somerville’s group reached the men and began firing their rifles and throwing grenades. Private Hobbs let out a cry and fell down into the trench. Dana looked down at him. He was writhing in pain but still alive. She called out for a medic and resumed firing.
“Dana, look out!”, Somerville called. Panicked, Dana looked up and saw the German grenade sailing into the trench. The grenade landed between her legs and she hurriedly rolled over. The grenade hit her rifle and tore up the stock as it exploded. She felt herself hyperventilating, then realized that she wasn’t injured. Lieutenant Somerville took off after the retreating gun crew with Pagliaro and Private Castle.
“Where you hit?”, Dana asked Hobbs as she leaned over him. He had blood all over the back of his pants.
“My ass, ma’am”, he responded. “I got hit in the ass!” Dana’s eyes widened. She helped Hobbs to get out of the trench and into the waiting arms of the medics who stretchered him away. Realising that her gun was now useless from the grenade, she picked up Hobbs’ discarded weapon and took pot shots at German soldiers, accompanied by Private Holmes, whilst Somerville and the other men took care of the other guns.
When Somerville signaled about twenty minutes later that the third gun had been taken, he called for everyone to move forward. Dana was joined by Captain Cumberland who was carrying TNT and some phosphorus incendiary grenades. Somerville dropped a block of the grenades down the barrel of each of the three guns, followed by a German potato masher grenade. This combination blew the guns apart like half peeled bananas. Five reinforcements arrived and took out the fourth gun.
With the guns destroyed, the group straggled back to HQ. Brian looked at Dana as she walked in with the men, and his eyes widened when he saw the blood on the front of her uniform.
“Where are you hurt?”, he asked her worriedly. She looked at him sharply, not understanding his sudden concern. She glanced down at herself, then back at Brian.
“It’s not mine”, she responded. Brian felt himself letting out a sigh of relief, and he wondered why he was feeling such concern for a woman he couldn’t stand. He rationalized that he was concerned that she was the only person that he knew in this whole godforsaken place
“Damn, Vandenberg here nearly got taken out by a grenade”, Pagliaro said. “Damn you move quick when you’ve got a grenade between your legs.” Brian had begun to turn away before Pagliaro spoke, but he whirled back around to stare at Dana. She blushed under his sudden scrutiny, then squared her shoulders.
“If you say anything about a grenade between my legs and exploding boxes, I am gonna rip your goddamn head off”. He smirked at her.
The group sat down to take a breather and Brian joined them, accepting a cigarette from Pagliaro. Lieutenant Somerville walked over and advised them that their small group had killed 15 Germans, wounded many more, taken twelve prisoners and had obtained maps of every German gun location in the Normandy area.
“Wow”, Dana said. Their small group of 15 had effectively destroyed an elite 50 man platoon of German paratroopers that had been defending the guns, and had scattered the gun crews.
“If Captain Lacroix was still here, he would have led us all in on a frontal assault and gotten every one of us killed”, Pagliaro sighed. Not recognizing the name, Dana glanced at him.
“Do you think so?”, she asked warily.
“Hell yes, I know so Dana”, Pagliaro responded. “You saw what he was like during the training exercises.” Dana may well have seen him, but unfortunately she couldn’t remember him. If he was as bad as Pagliaro was suggesting, she was thankful for that fact.
As night fell, some of the group retired to the rear of a supply truck to rest. O’Shea was attempting to cook in an empty ammunition case over a small camp stove. Whatever he was cooking stunk out the truck.
“Damn, what the hell died in here?”, Pagliaro asked with disgust as he hopped into the rear of the truck and took a seat next to Dana.
“O’Shea’s ass”, Dana responded with a grimace. O’Shea glanced at her.
“If you can find a five star restaurant around here I’d be happy to join you”, he responded. A bottle of wine was passed around the group as they tried to rest from their first day in action. Dana held the bottle up to her lips and took a sip of the red wine. She had no idea how long she and Brian would be stuck here for, and she sincerely hoped that they could be gone before they had to go back into battle. She didn’t really like her chances, or that of Brian, of surviving. She had read enough about World War 2 to know that the paratroopers were pretty much thrown into everything and she dreaded the coming morning.
*******************************
A big thank you to nolifelowlife for the comment.
Comments & subscriptions make my day :-)
“Vandenberg, come with me. Haner, go and help with sorting out the communications.”
Dana hopped down from the cot, and followed Somerville outside, to where a small group of 15 or so men were gathered in the centre of the small village’s main roadway.
“Lieutenant McKenzie and Captain Cumberland have intelligence that a four gun battery of German 105mm cannons is set up a hundred metres across some hedgerows and open fields, opposite a large farmhouse called Brecourt Manor. The cannons are dug into the hedgerow, connected by a trench system, covered bush and trees. There is a 50 man platoon of infantry defending the cannon and they’ve just gone into action firing onto Utah to the north-east.”
Dana didn’t really like where this conversation was going. She looked at the faces of the young men around her, who were all her age and younger. She was only 22, and some of the men, no rather boys, around her looked as young as 18.
“Major Brookes needs the guns to be taken out”, Somerville continued. “We can only afford to send in one company as we’re still short on men. We need to take care of that battery. Drop all of the equipment that you’re carrying, except weapons, ammo and grenades.” He waited until all of the men and Dana had done so, before continuing to speak. “The attack will be a quick frontal assault supported by a base of fire from different positions as close to the guns as possible.”
The small group took off toward Brecourt Manor, and the closer they got the ground seemed to shake underneath Dana’s feet from the ferocious sound of the 105mm guns that were pounding the marines and infantry attempting to land on Utah Beach.
Somerville directed Privates Morris, Lister, Meville and Holmes to set up their machine guns along the hedge leading toward their objective, with instructions to lay down covering fire. As he was giving out instructions, he spotted a German helmet. The soldier was moving down the trench toward their position, hunched over and with only his head showing above ground. Somerville took aim with his M1 rifle and quickly squeezed off two shots and killed the German solider.
He then turned to Lieutenant Hanson and instructed him to take Pagliaro and O’Shea to crawl over the open field to their left so that they could get as close to the first gun of the battery as possible so that they could throw grenades into the trench. As the men crawled off he instructed Corporal Richland and Private Fenwick to the right, with orders to put a flanking fire into the enemy position.
He set off to lead the charge straight down the hedge, taking with him Privates Hobbs and Castle, and Dana. “Oh great”, Dana thought to herself. “I’m going to die.” She followed behind the men, her shaking hands clutching her M1 rifle.
Gunfire and pops enrupted from around them as the various groups of men that Somerville had spread out began firing and throwing their grenades.
“Follow me!”, Somerville called and the assault team including Dana ran down the hedge toward Lieutenant Hanson. Simultaneously, Pagliaro leaped into the trench beside Hanson. The German crew at the first trench, realizing that they were under attack from three directions, fled. The infantry retreated with them, running along the trench away from Pagliaro, Hanson and O’Shea. The group began to throw grenades at the retreating enemy.
Somerville’s group reached the men and began firing their rifles and throwing grenades. Private Hobbs let out a cry and fell down into the trench. Dana looked down at him. He was writhing in pain but still alive. She called out for a medic and resumed firing.
“Dana, look out!”, Somerville called. Panicked, Dana looked up and saw the German grenade sailing into the trench. The grenade landed between her legs and she hurriedly rolled over. The grenade hit her rifle and tore up the stock as it exploded. She felt herself hyperventilating, then realized that she wasn’t injured. Lieutenant Somerville took off after the retreating gun crew with Pagliaro and Private Castle.
“Where you hit?”, Dana asked Hobbs as she leaned over him. He had blood all over the back of his pants.
“My ass, ma’am”, he responded. “I got hit in the ass!” Dana’s eyes widened. She helped Hobbs to get out of the trench and into the waiting arms of the medics who stretchered him away. Realising that her gun was now useless from the grenade, she picked up Hobbs’ discarded weapon and took pot shots at German soldiers, accompanied by Private Holmes, whilst Somerville and the other men took care of the other guns.
When Somerville signaled about twenty minutes later that the third gun had been taken, he called for everyone to move forward. Dana was joined by Captain Cumberland who was carrying TNT and some phosphorus incendiary grenades. Somerville dropped a block of the grenades down the barrel of each of the three guns, followed by a German potato masher grenade. This combination blew the guns apart like half peeled bananas. Five reinforcements arrived and took out the fourth gun.
With the guns destroyed, the group straggled back to HQ. Brian looked at Dana as she walked in with the men, and his eyes widened when he saw the blood on the front of her uniform.
“Where are you hurt?”, he asked her worriedly. She looked at him sharply, not understanding his sudden concern. She glanced down at herself, then back at Brian.
“It’s not mine”, she responded. Brian felt himself letting out a sigh of relief, and he wondered why he was feeling such concern for a woman he couldn’t stand. He rationalized that he was concerned that she was the only person that he knew in this whole godforsaken place
“Damn, Vandenberg here nearly got taken out by a grenade”, Pagliaro said. “Damn you move quick when you’ve got a grenade between your legs.” Brian had begun to turn away before Pagliaro spoke, but he whirled back around to stare at Dana. She blushed under his sudden scrutiny, then squared her shoulders.
“If you say anything about a grenade between my legs and exploding boxes, I am gonna rip your goddamn head off”. He smirked at her.
The group sat down to take a breather and Brian joined them, accepting a cigarette from Pagliaro. Lieutenant Somerville walked over and advised them that their small group had killed 15 Germans, wounded many more, taken twelve prisoners and had obtained maps of every German gun location in the Normandy area.
“Wow”, Dana said. Their small group of 15 had effectively destroyed an elite 50 man platoon of German paratroopers that had been defending the guns, and had scattered the gun crews.
“If Captain Lacroix was still here, he would have led us all in on a frontal assault and gotten every one of us killed”, Pagliaro sighed. Not recognizing the name, Dana glanced at him.
“Do you think so?”, she asked warily.
“Hell yes, I know so Dana”, Pagliaro responded. “You saw what he was like during the training exercises.” Dana may well have seen him, but unfortunately she couldn’t remember him. If he was as bad as Pagliaro was suggesting, she was thankful for that fact.
As night fell, some of the group retired to the rear of a supply truck to rest. O’Shea was attempting to cook in an empty ammunition case over a small camp stove. Whatever he was cooking stunk out the truck.
“Damn, what the hell died in here?”, Pagliaro asked with disgust as he hopped into the rear of the truck and took a seat next to Dana.
“O’Shea’s ass”, Dana responded with a grimace. O’Shea glanced at her.
“If you can find a five star restaurant around here I’d be happy to join you”, he responded. A bottle of wine was passed around the group as they tried to rest from their first day in action. Dana held the bottle up to her lips and took a sip of the red wine. She had no idea how long she and Brian would be stuck here for, and she sincerely hoped that they could be gone before they had to go back into battle. She didn’t really like her chances, or that of Brian, of surviving. She had read enough about World War 2 to know that the paratroopers were pretty much thrown into everything and she dreaded the coming morning.
*******************************
A big thank you to nolifelowlife for the comment.
Comments & subscriptions make my day :-)