Baiter and Beyond

A soldier, Eddie Gaines, describes being part of the D-Day landings in France.

'We'd waited, and I think this happens to a lot of people – we had waited and waited and we all need to get on with it and of course – at the time – and everybody, I think everybody in England – we all hated the Germans and what they were doing and what they stood for, and Hitler and all his business. We all hated it.

And ok, we weren't, I'm not saying we were all heroes, I don't – we weren’t nobody was, because everybody was scared going in. But – ah – one thing I must say, all these people, it's quite stirring to see all these people on the bank, sort of, watching you go out.

And I thought well, if they all know we're coming, I'm sure the Germans know we're coming. [Laughter]

We were amazed to see the amount of shipping that there was, and craft, and you know it's just, the thought – there was no fear that you were just going to go in there on your own. There was this great mass of power behind you, which was – ah – reassuring.

The feeling of fear didn't really come into it while we were at sea. We were just part of a great armada that was going to do something.

But – ah – when – ah – the closer we got – we – ah – had to go alongside a liberty ship to put more men on, because the first waves – the waves had gone in – there was lots of debris floating in the water everywhere – and ah – it was – it was pretty ah – a bit scary then. 'Cause – ah – some of the bodies floating about and that. And it was pretty scary.'