introduction
Survival is the instinct of all living things, and humans are certainly no exception. Even in the midst of brutal warfare, soldiers struggle to survive in a variety of environments. The Later Han Shu Gongsun Shu Biography: "When a boy survives in death, can he sit in poverty?" "After all, life is precious, even if you want to see death as a homecoming, you should die as your place."
01
In World War II, the landing in Normandy was an important turning point, this day is also known in history as D Day (military term "attack day", here refers to the longest day) - June 5, 1944, in this battle, the American paratrooper John Steele became a very special hero, his story is not only written into the famous World War II work "The Longest Day", but also in the film of the same name Steele. When the American paratrooper fell from the sky, the parachute accidentally hung on the top of a church, but he saved his life by pretending to die.
▲ Statue of John Steele hanging in the church
The landing in Normandy was one of the most famous battles of World War II, and for this military operation, the Allies made a careful deployment. The night before day D, the Americans had parachuted some 15,000 paratroopers into the Rear of the Germans, including the famous 101st Airborne Division, whose main task was to assist the landing operation the next day and capture important traffic nodes and fortresses in advance. The paratroopers were travelling from England in a plane where John Steele was a second-class soldier in the F Company, Second Battalion, 505th Parachute Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division.
▲ Paratroopers parachuted in
In this airborne operation, Steele and his comrades should have landed west of Saint-Miger in France, and under the attack of incendiary bombs, the Germans quickly issued an air raid alarm, they rang the bells of the local church, the Germans and the local French villagers all rushed out of the houses, and the streets of the square were in chaos. Steele had just jumped out of the cabin when he noticed something was wrong, and due to the direction of the wind, Steele and the others did not fall towards the predetermined landing point, but floated above the town of St. Tuglis.
02
In this case, there was inevitably a fierce exchange of fire after landing, and a large number of German troops quickly surrounded from all sides, but Steele's luck was very bad, he could not control the direction due to the influence of the wind during the landing, so his parachute was wrapped around the spire of San Mi-Ray-Gris in the town. Steele was thus hung on the side of the church, which was a living target for the Germans, and at this time Steele's luck improved again, and after several shots from the Germans, he was not shot, but only injured his foot.
At this time, Steele was in a dilemma, if he tried to get rid of the parachute, then since he would continue to be attacked, if he hung here and did not move, it was likely that the Germans would shoot at him, so he simply tilted his head and pretended to be dead. Unexpectedly, this strategy worked very well, and the Germans thought that he was really dead, so they did not attack Steele again, and turned around and threw themselves into other battles.
In this battle, the number of American paratroopers was only more than 30, far less than the local German garrison, and had to surrender. Steele hung in the church for two hours, and he tried to cut the rope with a knife in the confusion, but he failed to hold the knife and let him fall to the ground. "The Longest Day" writes: "Steele believed his only hope was to pretend to be on the roof just a few yards away from him, and the German machine gunners were firing at everything that was visible, but they just didn't shoot at him." ”
▲ Old photos of American paratroopers in World War II
Due to the difference in numbers, the American paratroopers were outnumbered, many were killed, and the rest had to surrender to the Germans, and John Steele was found by two German soldiers who had been cleaning the battlefield after two hours of loading in the church. In this way, Steele and the remaining 6 comrades became prisoners of the Germans.
03
However, the Germans did not keep a strict watch on them, and Steele found an opportunity to sneak away after 4 days of detention. He found the 3rd Battalion of the 505th Airborne Infantry Regiment, and then returned with his comrades to the small town of St. Tuyglis, where the Americans and Germans exchanged fire again. However, the situation of this battle was reversed, and more than 30 Germans were captured and 11 Germans were killed. Steele continued to fight and also took part in Operation Market Garden.
▲ Stills of the German army in World War II
After the war, Steele finally returned home safely, and his brother was killed in Germany in April 1945. After retiring from the army, Steele did not like to talk about the war until 1957, when an Irish journalist, while writing a book for the Normandy landings, found hundreds of surviving paratroopers, including Steele, and asked about the situation during the war, and Steele gave the reporter a complete account of his experiences that day.
epilogue
The book is The Longest Day, and although there are only a few accounts of Steele, John Steele still became a celebrity through this book. In 1969, Steele died. The local French government hung a model of a paratrooper made in the image of Steele on the church as a memorial, and it has been 51 years.
Resources:
The Book of the Later Han Dynasty
"The Longest Day"