The Spirit of the Corps » Band of Brothers

25: Do Not Freeze

When Autumn handed the ring of cloth to Charlie, she was surprised by how coarse it felt in her hands. It was made of a similar fabric to her ODs, which she supposed meant it wouldn't slip down when she had it on, but it made trying to get it on her arm an increasingly difficult task.

Even as Maddox continued to lead them through the dense crowd Charlie struggled to yank the armband up her left arm. She had to keep stopping as her carpet bag threatened to fall off of her right shoulder every time she pulled too vigorously.

When they stopped again, Boo took pity on her. "Here," she said softly, so quiet the word was buried under the cacophony of noise, though Charlie read it on her lips. She turned Charlie to the side and finished easing the white cloth with the red cross in its centre up Charlie's arm until it sat in a ring around her bicep.

Charlie couldn't help but stare at the bedlam all around her even as Lieutenant Maddox pulled them aside. The light was low, the risk of German bombers still as high as ever, but the scale of the operation required at least some visibility through the darkness, so lamps were scattered every few metres. Great circles of light swung across the inky black of the sky like pendulums above them as searchlights continued their watch for enemy aircraft. On the ground, no one cared enough to worry. There were more critical matters to attend to.

Standing before them, her face stony serious and her voice pitched above the shouting and the roar of engines, Maddox listed off everything they needed to have with them for the trip. Each of them rifled hurriedly through their bags, shouting their confirmations back at her that they had each thing when they'd found it.

By the time their equipment check was finished, Charlie withdrew shaking fingers from her bag. She zipped it back up carefully, making sure nothing fell out, then checked the floor around her feet to make double sure she wasn't accidentally leaving anything behind.

"23rd Field Hospital?" a man asked, out of breath as he skidded to a stop before them. He wore khaki fatigues much like their own, the sleeves rolled up to the elbow. His face was covered in sweat and there was a perpetual grimace on his lips. He stared out of stressed eyes as Maddox confirmed to him that they were and indicated the two groups of nurses beside them as well.

"You're over here, ma'ams," he said, just as quickly, just as breathless. He led them all over to a ship and gestured up the ramp. "This is where you board. When the order goes out, you'll go down into the belly of the ship and load onto one of the LCVPs." He gasped for breath at the end of his hurried explanation, leaving himself just enough time to look each of them over and give them a nod. "Good luck. God be with you."

There was no pause. No hesitation. Lieutenant Maddox turned and began hiking her way up the ramp. "Come on, Lieutenants," she called over her shoulder. "This is what you trained for!"

Charlie's hand found Mabs' once more. This time they did share a look, and it was filled with unmasked terror on both sides. Neither had it in them to hide their fear anymore.

"Come on, Charlie darlin'," Mabs said, leaning close so her voice reached her above the din. "We got a whole lotta boys who need our help."

Remembering the boys already over there, the boys who'd jumped out of planes or disembarked boats just like the ones they'd be boarding, steeled something in Charlie. Her fear remained, her heart still pounded hard in her throat, but she found courage enough inside herself to begin the trek up the ramp and onto the carrier ship.

A lot of nurses were already onboard, groups of them huddling together to ensure they didn't lose each other in the hubbub. Where Charlie still held tightly to Mabs' hand, she shifted her carpet bag to the crook of her elbow on her other arm and reached for Boo's hand. Feeling the touch, Boo glanced over and tried to smile. What she produced was shaky at best, and Charlie didn't feel as though she could return it just now, but a moment later Boo turned away to Autumn on her other side and clasped her hand, too.

The four of them formed a semi-circle around Lieutenant Maddox as she led them deeper into the ship. In the ship's interior they found a holding room, where they were ordered to wait whilst they awaited departure.

It could have been anywhere from half an hour to six hours before the ship left the shore. Charlie had no idea what time it was. She mourned the loss of the cool air outside, the chill of the early English morning and the sea breeze that accompanied it. Inside the ship the heat was stifling. Already, she knew she was sweating.

"Here we go," Boo mumbled as the ship began to move, still holding onto Charlie's hand. None of them had been particularly chatty ever since waking up that morning, but the nervous jitters had finally fully kicked in.

Boo sang to herself under her breath as the ship moved beneath them. Charlie listened to the inflections of her voice, the words too quiet to make out, and tried to find comfort in the familiarity of the tune.

Autumn was stoic. She stood with a blank face, staring at the wall behind Charlie's head. If Charlie didn't know her better she would have thought she was utterly unbothered by the entire affair. Knowing her as she did, Charlie could tell she was afraid and just didn't know what to do with her fear, not hiding it so much as not knowing how to let it out.

Mabs was squeezing Charlie's hand so hard Charlie was half-certain it would fall off by the time they even reached the shores of France. Glancing over at her, Charlie found her eyebrows scrunched together, her head bowed to her chest, and her eyes squeezed shut as she let the movement of the waves sway her back and forth on her feet.

Charlie was tapping the toe of her left boot against the floor, her gaze flitting every which way as she drank in her surroundings. It was dark, the lighting red as it spilled over them from four lights set high up on the metal walls. She was mumbling to herself, trying to calm herself with the movement of her mouth as it worked to keep time with her brain. She knew she was powerless to control either of them, conscious that every second which passed was a second she moved further away from the safety of England and closer to the promised turmoil of France.

Behind her, the grinding sound of metal on metal. It was loud, so loud it pierced the air and cut right over all other noise as easily as a knife through warm butter.

"It's time, ladies," announced one of the Navy orderlies standing by the door. "20th Field Hospital, time to load up."

The nurses of the 20th were right next to the door. All Charlie could see of them as she craned her neck over the rows of helmets ahead of her were the backs of their fatigues and their own helmets as they filed through the door two at a time.

As soon as they were through and the Navy orderly had been given the all clear, he called out for the 21st.

"Not long now," Mabs said, as though this was exciting, something they were looking forward to, and she was encouraging the others to be patient.

Lieutenant Maddox turned back to them. "When we load onto the LCVP, you stay silent. You crouch so as not to be seen over the edges. No cigarettes, no gum, no food. Drink water now if you think you'll need it. Once we're onboard, that's it."

Charlie nodded, eyes wide as she hung onto every word.

"22nd Field Hospital," called out the orderly. "You're up!"

"You all know what you're doing," Maddox pressed on, drawing all of their eyes back to her. "Whatever we meet when we get on the beaches, you have been trained enough and are good enough to know how to handle it."

She looked each of them in the eye individually, taking time to communicate the weight of her words and what they were about to do.

"23rd Field Hospital," announced the orderly.

Maddox looked between the frightened faces gathered before her with a mix of pride and anguish.

"Do. Not. Freeze."