Ebook: Battle Diary: From D-Day and Normandy to the Zuider Zee and Ve

He was one of the first on the beach on 6 June 1994 - D-Day. Charlie Martin and members of the Queen's Own Rifles raced from their landing craft, dodging, shooting, tearing across the sand towards the French village of Bernieres-sur-Mer. They made that objective, though the losses were heavy. This is a rifleman's story, on the ground and at the point, under fire, in minefields, in trenches, in mud. The shrinking band of D-Day originals gratefully accepted reinforcements as they battled across France, took the Channel ports, slogged through the soggy fields, and dikes of the Scheldt and Holland, and finally crossed the Rhine. They faced Hitler Youth units, SS regiments, and highly trained paratroops. None surrendered easily. Charlie's memoir is a striking portrayal of how the boys of the Queen's Own became men and how the men became veterans. They had to learn fast at the 'point' or they were gone.