_WE WERE THERE_ AT THE NORMANDY INVASION [Illustration: _“The 82nd always wins its battles!” Slim said_] _WE WERE THERE_ AT THE NORMANDY INVASION Written and Illustrated by CLAYTON KNIGHT _Historical Consultant_: MAJOR GENERAL RALPH ROYCE U.S.A.F., RETIRED [Illustration] GROSSET & DUNLAP PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK © CLAYTON KNIGHT 1956 PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOG CARD NO. 56-5389 _We Were There at the Normandy Invasion_ Contents CHAPTER I Dangerous Business 3 II House-to-House Search 15 III Father Duprey’s Plan 26 IV Midnight Landing 34 V André’s Warning 41 VI Victor’s Mission 56 VII Tricolor over Ste. Mère 66 VIII Prisoners 73 IX Victor Disappears 82 X “Here Come the Tanks!” 86 XI André and the Nazi Pilot 98 XII Slim and the Trumpet 104 XIII The War from the Air 110 XIV Father Duprey’s Story 123 XV Battle for St. Sauveur 129 XVI André into the Fighting 139 XVII Patchou on the Battlefield 146 XVIII The Secret Tunnel 153 XIX The 82nd Finishes Its Fight 160 XX Bastille Day--1944 169 Illustrations “The 82nd always wins its battles!” Slim said FRONTISPIECE At a signal from the driver he went to the pump 5 He opened the door to find a Nazi officer frowning at him 32 The squad gathered up grenades, bazookas, and other equipment 70 André had learned half of Slim’s pet song 108 “My dear boy!” Father Duprey held out his arms 124 Marie came up through the old tunnel 156 _WE WERE THERE_ AT THE NORMANDY INVASION CHAPTER ONE _Dangerous Business_ Toward sunset on the first day of June, a small black car rattled past a crossroads sign in a tiny village in northwestern France. The sign pointed to the near-by town of Sainte Mère Église, about two miles farther inland. The coast of the English Channel was nearly three miles back in the other direction. Behind the wheel of the car sat a thin, anxious Frenchman. Hunched beside him was a young, blond Englishman. The younger man was shabbily dressed, and most of the lower part of his face was covered by a bandage. The car pulled up and stopped in front of a house with a weather-beaten sign on it which read: PIERRE GAGNON _Gas Tobacco Chocolate_ A lone gas pump stood between the house and the highway. Beyond the house lay Pierre Gagnon’s farm. The driver waited a moment and then honked three times sharply. Almost immediately the door opened. A dark-haired boy of about twelve came out.