Allies

James remembers “If Day,” which took place in his hometown of Winnipeg two years before. If Day was an elaborate simulation of German occupation in Winnipeg, intended to promote citizens buying war bonds and convince young men to sign up for military service. He and a large group of schoolmates used the demonstration to band together against a bully at their school, inspired by the war effort’s message of “we’re stronger together.”

Back on the plane, James and his unit prepare for their signal to jump out and parachute down to German territory.

James parachutes down to the ground from the plane, accidentally losing a bag of weapons as he does so. He watches with horror as the German forces fire on his fellow paratroopers. He lands, cuts himself free of his parachute, and Sam finds him shortly afterward. They try to head toward the target they’re supposed to help the Allies attack, but they are disoriented. They find a farmhouse and knock on the door to ask for directions.

A little boy and an old woman answer the door at the farmhouse. (The woman is the wife of the station guard who helps Samira and the resistance, and the little boy is his grandson.) James and Sam learn that they’re seven miles from where they were supposed to be dropped out of the plane, and that Germans are surrounding them in every direction. They despair of getting to the target safely.

James and Sam meet up with several other Canadian soldiers, and they all form a group. Ally planes bomb them by mistake, and there are explosions all around them. None of the soldiers are hurt, but they are shaken by the idea of their own side firing on them. After meeting up with a commanding officer, the group gets a new mission and location—to destroy a German radio station, headquarters, and bridge.

The Canadians reach the Nazi headquarters and find an empty bunkhouse on the outskirts of the compound of buildings. The Germans are down in a trench and quickly discover that the Canadians are there. James and Sam stay to guard the bunkhouse door while some soldiers draw German fire and others go up to the bunkhouse’s top floor with a large gun. The Germans fire on the top floor, however, and hit the explosives that the Canadians had with them, making the top floor collapse and killing the four soldiers who were on it.

James is rattled by his comrades’ sudden deaths. However, he rallies when two more Canadian soldiers find them, especially because they have better explosives. James and Sam modify the explosives to take out one of the Germans’ largest weapons, causing the Nazis to surrender. However, there are German soldiers unaccounted for, so the Canadians go into the main house of the compound to search for the others.

James searches the basement of the house and finds a French family who lived in the basement while the Germans used the building. The Germans’ poor treatment of the family makes James angry, giving him a sense of purpose about his role in the war. His unit receives orders to hold the compound until the Ally forces on the beaches make their way inland.

This chapter is the first of a new section, called “Operation Neptune: June 6, 1944, 6:30 AM, Omaha Beach.”

The book’s point of view moves back to Dee, who last appeared in Chapter 3. His boat reaches Omaha Beach, and chaos immediately erupts as the soldiers try to get off the boat while the German forces are shooting at them. Dee watches in horror as men die around him, but he is relieved to see that Sid is safe. The chapter ends with a bomb detonating between the two friends.

Dee scrambles for shelter behind a metal structure placed on the beach to prevent Ally tanks from advancing. Another soldier joins him and says that he’s been tasked with blowing up the structure, forcing Dee to leave the structure for the dangerous open ground. He wonders what happened to the support forces that were supposed to help the infantry, since it seems as though the invasion is not going according to plan.