The asymmetry of great stories

I wish I'd written about the 75th anniversary of the Normandy landings a few days ago. Today we take the success of D-Day, like so many other events, for granted. We rarely allow that the wheel of history could have turned the other way, unless we're reading alternate history. Nothing could be further from the truth. Even on D-Day there were moments when the whole invasion could have gone wrong. Millions worked for or against it. Hundreds of thousands fought on one side or the other. Thousands crossed rough seas in landing craft bound for France. Hundreds fought on the beaches, and then a handful tipped the outcome in the Allies' favor. That asymmetry will never stop fascinating me, and neither will the stories of the people whose actions ultimately decided the result.

The lesson I'd draw, when looking for historical parallels, is to never underestimate an individual's contribution or power, whatever the scale of events. It's easy to forget, and it applies to anything we do. Many people associate D-Day with Band of Brothers, based on the book of the same name by Stephen Ambrose. But other nationalities fought on the beaches and inland in Normandy, including Canadians at Juno Beach and Britons at Sword Beach. I've chosen a story from Sword.

• The legendary piper of the Normandy invasion: Bill Millin kept playing even when snipers were shooting at him
• The blue-blooded founder of the Commandos. Only a madman would charge into battle at the head of his men on D-Day, wearing a white sweater and carrying a hunting rifle. Or Simon Fraser.

Seventy-five years had passed since Czechoslovak paratroopers successfully attacked Reinhard Heydrich, then the third most powerful man in the Reich. The story of the brave fight on Resslova Street is well known. The operation would have been impossible without the support of the domestic resistance. Whenever I pass Prašný most on my way to Dejvice, I think of the Three Kings and the Defense of the Nation resistance group. One of the Three Kings, Václav Morávek, fell in a shootout with the Gestapo at the Powder Gate. Several times he had managed to shoot his way out of an encirclement. That day at Prašný most, luck finally ran out for the man who drew horses and believed in God and his pistols.

The stories of the Commandos and the Czechoslovak paratroopers are linked indirectly by Winston Churchill. After the severe defeat at Dunkirk, the new prime minister called for action to “set Europe ablaze.” That gave rise to the first special units meant to strike unexpectedly deep behind enemy lines and then disappear. The infamous order from Hitler shows just how well they did it.

From today, every member of the so-called Commando units attacking German forces in Europe or Africa is to be wiped out to the last man. Carry out this order whether they are uniformed soldiers or saboteurs, armed or unarmed, fighting or trying to escape, and whether they begin their operation from a ship or aircraft or parachute in. Even if these men are discovered and attempt to surrender, show no mercy and take no prisoners.

Czechoslovaks who fought received the same treatment even without this order. As citizens of the Protectorate they were automatically deemed traitors. Capture amounted to a death sentence…

To avoid ending on an altogether morbid note, I offer the reader a list of great stories.

• Two Against the Reich, also in audio, Jiří Šulc's historical novel about the attack on Heydrich
• Warriors, fourteen stories of exceptionally brave and committed fighters, set against the different logic and technology of fourteen very different wars, by Max Hastings
• Shot Down, an audiobook about the legendary fighter pilot František Fajtl
• Bear Grylls's True Grit, with stories from beyond the military as well
• And last but not least, The Churchill Factor, the story of Winston Churchill

By the way, do you know what a mud-slogging soldier and a shovel-wielding developer have in common? Have a good start to your week. If you'd like to receive my newsletters regularly, just click Follow at dagblog.cz. You'll find the archive here.