A FORMER commando who was among the first ashore on D-Day 70 years ago says he still remembers seeing the dead bodies floating in the water as he prepared to land.
Bob Yaxley was just 19 when he stormed ashore Sword Beach as part of crack unit 45 Commando, in the early hours of June 6, 1944.
The 89-year-old, of Spalding Way, Great Baddow, Chelmsford, said: "I think I was quite scared when I hit the beach and I saw the dead bodies around me, but you just had to follow your leader.
"Where we landed it was very soft ground and there had been lots of shelling in there, which made it easier for us.
"We took quite a few prisoners and they looked pretty shocked – they had taken quite a hammering."
That day, Private Yaxley's battalion was tasked with reinforcing the airborne units that secured Pegasus Bridge seven hours before.
"As we crossed the bridge an officer in front of me was shot in the leg and a corporal behind me was shot in the head.
"We noticed on the bridge white markings, so their snipers could aim at us.
"Funnily enough, I saw those two later on and they both survived."
After the first day of fighting, 45 Commando had four men killed and 20 missing, most of whom had been taken prisoner.
After a few days of non-stop fighting, Bob's unit dug trenches and held their position.
"Even though it was stagnant we had to keep busy, so during the day we did things like marching up and down and saluting people.
"At night, we would go on night patrols and see if we could capture some Germans – we'd usually capture a few as we put on plimsolls so we could run quietly like giraffes."
Bob's unit ended the war in Germany and in June 1945 he was sent to Wales before being demobilised.
Before signing up in Romford aged 17, the former Kings Road School pupil, who lived in the Boarded Barns estate, worked at Crompton's.
Soon after signing up he was posted to Deal, and remembers his barracks being strafed by German aircraft on a daily basis.
"I remember planes machine-gunning the barracks – it was pretty hairy but it didn't bother me as we were all in the same boat."
Bob later went to Commando Basic Training Centre in Achnacarry, Scotland, gaining his green beret after six weeks of gruelling training.
He met his wife Coleen at a dance in Shire Hall, Chelmsford, in 1952, by accident as he went in because his motorbike had broken down.
They married the next year at the Congregational Church in Baddow Road.
The grandfather-of-five, who has made several trips to Normandy since, retired as Chelmsford Council's clerk of works in 1992.
