On the 60th anniversary of D-Day 6 June 2004 there was a TV interview between an American and a German. They had not met before, but both of them were on duty on that day.
The American landed on the beach, then marched into Normandy, and the German was captured. It was the depth of regard they had for each other and the recognition that they were simply ‘doing’ their job that touched me.
I have tried to find the archive, without success, but the reconciliation, the dignity and regard between the two men has stayed with me, and I remember them in this poem.
German Soldier 6 June 1944 – 2004
Lonely man among men
Facing the sea
You waited, watching
Faceless the invisible enemy
Six decades on
No reunions
No gratitude
No parades
No pride
No end
Just
Night visions filled with
They that grow not old
And the job you had to do
The foe, a harvest to scythe
A shell’s length on the beach
Until bloody and blunted
They found a way to relieve
You of your duty
And the faces took on form
And the waiting was no more
And the survivor’s guilt began
And the wrench of thanksgiving
Soldiers, humans
But for geography
Brothers in Arms
Recognise the other
Like them, your deeds
Haunt the days and
The nights, the fallen
You return
To remember before
You too cease to age
And take the hand
Of an American
Who once faceless
On that beach faced
You, lone man
Sixty years break down
And sharing more than
That which held them apart
Lone men no more.
6 June has personal significance as my mother died on 6 June 2006. In 1944 she was19 having joined the ATS at 16, and she became a radio operator in the secret “Y” service taking down German coded messages sent to Bletchley Park for decoding.
