The Shores Of Normandy by Jim Radford (El Pony Pisador cover)

In the cold grey light of the sixth of June, in the year of forty-four, The Empire Larch sailed out from Pool to join with thousands more. The largest fleet the world had seen, we sailed in close array, And we set our course for Normandy at the dawning of the day. There was not one man in all our crew but knew what lay in store, For we had waited for that day through five long years of war. We knew that many would not return, yet all our hearts were true, For we were bound for Normandy, where we had a job to do. Now the Empire Larch was a deep-sea tug with a crew of thirty-three, And I was just the galley-boy on my first trip to sea. I little thought when I left home of the dreadful sights I’d see, But I came to manhood on the day that I first saw Normandy. At Arromanches off Beach of Gold, ‘neath the rockets’ deadly glare, We towed our blockships into place and we built a harbour there. ‘Mid shot and shell we built it well, as history does agree, While brave men died in the swirling tide on the shores of Normandy. For every hero’s name that’s known, a thousand died as well. On stakes and wire their bodies hung, rocked in the ocean swell; And many a mother wept that day for the sons they loved so well, Men who cracked a joke and cadged a smoke as they stormed the gates of hell. As the years pass by, he can still recall the men he saw that day Who died upon that blood-soaked sand where now sweet children play; And all of us who were unborn, we’ve lived in liberty, We’ll remember those who made it so on the shores of Normandy. —— Jim Radford joined the Royal Navy aged 15 and became the youngest serviceman in the D-Day landings. He hit the charts with his single “The Shores of Normandy”, which narrates his experiences on that day. We had the luck to meet Jim Radford at Yarmouth’s Sea Festival and it was a great pleasure for us, so we decided to pay a little tribute to him by doing our own rendition of the song.