Beyond the trees the light shone. If they could just make it through the darkness of the forest they would survive.
He rallied his men, ‘One last effort, push through!’
Bullets flew, splinters of wood stung, shells exploded, dirt and debris sprayed around them.
Gradually they made the advance up the slope. Higgins fell, Young had disappeared, but around him the bloodied uniforms of his unit clustered.
They made it, they broke through the darkness. Open ground lay ahead, the enemy could no longer hide.
He stopped in his tracks, the remains of his unit froze next to him.
The line of 2cm KwK 30 L/55 auto-cannons, mounted atop the Panzer MKII tanks, pointed directly at them.
Before he could order the retreat, hell reigned down upon them.
He saw what lay beyond the light in the sky.
This is a response to the #writephoto Prompt – Beyond curated over at Sue Vincent’s Daily Echo. Click on the link to read other stories inspired by the image.
My first novel, ‘A Justified State,’ is available now
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Iain Kelly 
Excellent, Iain.
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Thank you Violet
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never stood a chance, did they?
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Like so many on both sides…
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Not a happy endn at all..but as always, Iain, excellently told.
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Thank you Sue
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I didn’t see that coming. I guess they were mistaken about the light. Good one.
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Light is normally a positive, in this case, not so much
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Very thrilling, Iain.
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Thanks Roberta
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Excellent story, Iain. Sad ending for those brave men.
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Thank you
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Well done, Iain.
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Thank you
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You’re welcome.
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This is so well written, but sadly this must of happened so often 💜💜
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I hate to think what it must have been like for these young men.
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We cannot imagine, even reading true accounts does not even touch the truth 💜
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Reblogged this on anita dawes and jaye marie.
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So well told Iain. Good write.
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Thank you Helene – having trouble finding your effort this week, hope I can track it down! 🙂
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It has disappeared. WP has deleted many of the sites I follow, I had to re-follow them all. Then posts start vanishing.
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Hope you have managed to recover everything. So very annoying when technology lets us down after all the effort we put in!
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Most of it has been recovered thank you Iain.
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So heartbreaking, Iain. How many have faced those canons of one sort or another? Beautifully told.
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Thank you so much
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