<div style="text-align: center;"><a class="postlink" href="http://i.imgur.com/2wCQm8G.png">[ img ]</a></div><br/><br/>The British 50th Infantry Division, 8th Armored Brigade and Four-Seven Royal Marine Commandos were tasked with assaulting Gold Beach to the right of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division on Juno Beach. The 50th Infantry was organized into four infantry Brigades with the 231st Brigade on the extreme right or west end of the line. 1st Battalion, Hampshire Infantry Regiment were assigned the extreme right end of the Brigade's sector. Once the Infantry secured a foothold ashore, each battalion had its own objectives to seize inland behind the beachheads.<br/><br/>For Lance Corporal Graham, the Higgins boat he was riding in was not the pleasure cruise he had imagined or hoped for. He could hear the British Spitfires heading in toward the beach. This gave the men of the boat some hope, to see friendly air cover going in ahead of them. But there was not much in the line of opposition to keep the Spitfires occupied. In fact, only two Messerschmitt Bf-109s made an appearance over Gold and Juno Beaches that morning.<br/><br/>Jimmy Graham looked at his brothers in Section one lead by Corporal McNabb. Jimmy had all the confidence in the world in Corporal McNabb, that he would get the men of their section across the beach, into the sea wall and beyond safely. There was no doubting him. He knew they would all make it safely.<br/><br/>The Higgins boat bobbed and dipped as it charged ahead in the surf. A few soldier popped their head over the top to get a look at the beach. Jimmy was not curious. Ted Carpenter, the Welsh farmer popped his head up, but that was only to toss his chips into the channel. If you weren't accustomed to the surf, the motion did play hell with your insides. The interior of the boat was becoming a bloody vomitorium with at least thirty blokes all packed in like sardines.<br/><br/>Jimmy silently wanted to get off the boat and simultaneously hoped the ride would never end. The Corporal had issued each of the men a condom to cover the muzzles of their Enfields in order to keep the sea water out of the barrels. It seemed like a nifty idea. But before Jimmy could think more on that and while the Corporal was talking, the Higgins Boat hit the reef early, dropped the ramp and plunged a few chaps right into the surf.<br/><br/>As soon as the ramp dropped, Jimmy became aware of the monotonous staccato of a Machine gun. Undoubtedly a German manufactured MG42 hammering the boats in the surf. There was some yelling and mortar explosions erupting streams of water spires up forty or fifty feet into the air. The soldiers of Second platoon, A Company, 1st Battalion, Hampshire Infantry charged off the ramp of the boat into the surf. It was just under knee deep, but enough to slow the men down.<br/><br/>Jimmy noticed the boat immediately adjacent to them had an MG42 sited right on it. The 7.92mm machine gun maintained a constant fire into the interior of the boat. They would find out later, that their battalion commander was on that boat. He never made it. None of the men on that second boat survived. For Jimmy and the soldiers of first section, second platoon, it was a mad rush through the water, up onto the beach and across to the sea wall. Jimmy made it. He looked over at Teddy Carpenter and Bob Murphy who followed him on the hellish ordeal. Several other platoon mates made it as well. When he looked back, he saw half of the blokes on his boat were dead or wounded on the beach, coloring it crimson red in grotesque positions.<br/><br/>The platoon leader, Lieutenatn Shelton was dead. The Company Commander Major Hughes was also among the dead. The Platoon Sergeant, Sergeant Monroe floundered in the surf with three bullet wounds and would not survive the next three minutes. The highest ranking soldier to survive the rush across the beach was Corporal McNabb. He had fifteen soldiers from second platoon with him and only half his section made it.<br/><br/>"Welcome to France, mates," Jimmy spoke out with uneasiness.