The trench stank of sweat and grime,

Waiting, bombardment, waiting all the time.

Friends caught in tracer fire bleeding and crying,

Others mortally wounded suffering and dying.

Acrid fumes from bombshells barrage,

Orders barked from the nearby Sarge.

Our objective was a fortified beach,

This was proving more difficult to reach.

Machine guns, mines and SS troops,

We edged nearer in tiny groups.

Dogfights erupted with merciless exchange,

Our group slid foreword until in range.

Chain guns rattled of cutting bursts,

My chum fell foreword dead headfirst.

I strafed and emplacement casing spewed around,

SS guards fell wounded on glassy ground.

Click went the pin of a grenade,

I tossed it hard joined by a fusillade.

Bang the bunker-exploded bodies lay dead,

I moved foreword with voracious tread.

With bayonet fixed I showed no fear,

Comrades covered guarding my rear.

With adeptness we slowly cleared a pass,

Until we captured the bunker at long last.

Young men lay around covered in blood,

One clutched a crucifix eyes closed in the mud.

A picture of Hitler with raised fist,

A damaged radio sparked and hissed.

I hadn’t even noticed my arm was hit,

Medic applied a dressing from the first aid kit.

Our objective achieved we set up base,

Chipping away at the master race.