Cpl. Charles "Bill" Lings 2nd Btn. East Yorkshire Regiment
Poem: D-Day, A Soldier's Rhyme by Charles Lings, 5th Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment
The 5th Division would have to pay with life and limb on this fateful day,
2nd Battalion was no exception, made up of men with no exemption;
4th Company, first platoon, in landing-craft and not too soon,
Shells were falling among the ships, "God help them!" was on our lips,
Code-named "Red-King", that's the "target beach",
Sands in morning light, soon to reach.
Squaddies in battle dress, standing in the stinking mess,
with your body full of stress, breathing like an old steam press,
the sea heaves you to and fro, as does the ramp that lets you go;
into a "hell" beyond belief, you watch your buddies come to grief,
with shrapnel flying all around, it's only safe, close to the ground;
you cannot fall and hide your face, orders are "forward" into the "race"
a race that ends in "All fall down!", to reach the wall above the town.
Now the Very lights are a-popping, to let you know the guns are stopping,
with boots full of water, gaiters full of sand, you wish for England -
not this foreign land;
"Get through the bloody wire!" the sergeant shouts at me;
the subleton, wet and shaking says: "No, we go all three.
Out of the platoon of twenty-five, there's only us left alive!"
Look back and see the mines a-jumping, and the mortar bombs a-thumping,
f
alling among the men you knew; then the orderlies come dashing through,
the M42's are "hissing" and "singing"; soon the death-tolls are a ringing;
finally, the tanks arrive; odds-on now we will survive.
Soon you rest and take a breath and know how close you came to death,
eat the grub and drink your tea, think about mates you will never see,
For them that mourn loved-ones true, crosses in a foreign field, won't do;
only those there at the time, will appreciate this, a soldier's rhyme'.
