Alan King shares the reality of the D-Day landings: chaos, carnage, noise, and confusion. Alan, a radio operator in the East Riding Yeomanry, tells of the storm in June 1944 that delayed the D-Day landings, and the chaos he witnessed as a young, inexperienced soldier landing on the Normandy beach of Luc-sur-Mer. He recounts crawling up the beach under a barrage of enemy fire, the tremendous noise, the carnage all around, and the death of his commanding officer, leaving them without direction. He recalls his involvement in the Battle of Goodwood, part of the larger battle for Caen, and tells how his crew commander died in his arms. Alan’s interview captures the horror and the unknown that many young men bravely faced. He witnessed people ‘dying all around’ but keeps the memory of his lost friends alive through regular trips to Normandy to visit their graves.

Dee Palmer was raised in a mining community near Wolverhampton. Born with autism and gender dysphoria, she struggled with her identify from an early age. After a childhood full of scrapes and misbehaviour, Dee sought the advice of a neighbour and decided to enlist in the army, joining the Royal Regiment of Horse Guards. Dee shares her early memories of life in the regiment, including a year spent at Kneller Hall which saw her become assistant principal clarinet of the Royal Horse Guards Band, despite not being a clarinettist before entering the school. Dee also talks in detail about the unique skills required to play an instrument whilst riding a horse, remembering the good times, the bad, and one shockingly tragic incident in which a runaway horse cost a soldier his life. After becoming disillusioned with the army, Dee left and found success with the band Jethro Tull. She ends her interview with a fascinating insight into the opportunities that opened up to her once her military career was over.

Dennis Bowen retells how as a naive teenager he joined his heroes in the army motivated by the harm World War 2 was having on the UK, the realities of war shattering all of his childish expectations. Initially being too young to fight he served as a demonstrator but due to the lack of action and the overestimation of his own abilities the job felt like a complete waste to him.   Upon reaching 18 he was sent to France as part of the D Day invasion force and was finally among the British soldiers he had always idolised. Whilst Dennis found himself trembling with excitement the older soldiers remained blasé, the realisation of how much experience he truly lacked immediately hitting him. He was shocked to witness them reflexively kill German soldiers before they could even try to surrender but overtime he also found himself treating them more like moving targets than people.   Dennis felt no longer human and like the battle would never end as everything except fighting was leaving his mind; there was no time for hunger, fatigue or pain, only fear, anxiety and excitement. Occasionally the thought of giving up did slip through but the fact none of his fellow soldiers had done so forced him to keep going as to not let them and especially those who had died down. When serious injuries temporarily left him unable to fight Dennis was so angry to be out of the battle he felt none of the physical pain as potentially letting everybody down was so much more distressing to him.