I parachuted into
Normandy with the 82nd Airborne Division in the early hours of
June 6th, 1944 and landed in a tree, from which I hung for an
hour, while men passed on a nearby road. I did not know if the boot steps
were those of friends or German Soldiers.
After cutting
myself loose from my harness, I crawled through the fields until I found
three other parachutists and a Lieutenant.
When dawn
eventually arrived we knocked on the door of a French house and asked the
farmer for directions.
At that very moment
a German staff car approached.
I jumped into the
road and ordered the car to stop.
The car started to
speed up and refused to stop, so the paratroopers opened fire.
The car veered and
smashed into the farm house. The German officer was thrown into the road
unhurt.
The driver jumped
out unhurt and crawled into the cellar window of the farm house.
I walked to the
German officer who shouted, "DON'T KILL, DON'T KILL!".
At the same time
his hand began to move towards his Luger Pistol.
I called out "STOP,
STOP!"
When the German
officer’s hand touched the Luger, I shot him dead.
I inspected the
dead German officer. He was dressed in field-grey German officer’s uniform
with the General officer ivy insignia that we had been taught to
recognise.
Inside the officers
hat was the name GENERAL FALLEY.
By killing the
General I was told that I played a large part in disrupting the German
defenses in the area. |