The front of the landing craft dropped down and Captain Thorin and his men leapt into the sea and forced their way through the water towards the beach. Around them they could hear the sound of shouting and gunfire as the action was replicated all along the beach. Thorin realised that the aerial bombardment had failed to destroy many, if any, of the German guns and that their assault on the beach would therefore be that much harder.

He looked round for the expected tank support and cursed as he realised Thranduil’s tanks were only landing now, instead of in advance. It was typical of him to delay his arrival, so that he appeared as the one to save the other troops instead of preparing the way. But there was little time for such reflections, as they fought on. A sudden scream from behind him and a voice shouted “Fili!”

“He’s dead,” Sergeant Dwalin’s gruff voice said.

“Leave him,” Thorin ordered. “They’ll collect the dead later.”

He could sense the tension in the men behind him, not wanting to leave their colleague. But there was nothing they could do, and the longer they remained on the beach, the greater the chance they too would be killed. It wasn’t easy crossing the beach, the Germans having left obstacles everywhere.

Another burst of gunfire and Nori yelled, “Kili’s bought it!”

Thorin blinked, and one part of his mind wondered what he would tell his sister, while he concentrated on bringing the rest of his unit up off the beach and into the town of Oisterham.

They had almost made it to the comparative safety of the town, when Thorin felt a violent pain in his arm and collapsed on the sand. He groaned. He realised Dwalin was looking down at him and, struggling to maintain consciousness, he said, “Sergeant Dwalin, the unit is your responsibility. Take Caen for me!”

“Will do, Sir!”

***

Ten years later, Bilbo Baggins stood with Dis in the Bayeux War Cemetery.

“So many graves, so many lost,” Dis said. She held two small posies, one for each son. “Where do we go?” she asked.

Bilbo checked the directions on his piece of paper. “This way.”

They found the two gravestones standing next to each other. Bilbo stood back as Dis knelt down and laid a posy before each stone. She stayed there for a few minutes, before shaking her head. Bilbo stepped forward and offered her his arm, which she accepted gratefully.

They looked across to where a woman was running her fingers over a name carved on a memorial wall.

“At least I have somewhere I can leave my flowers,” Dis said. “It would be even worse if all I had was a name and no known grave.”

“What would you like to do?” Bilbo asked.

“There’s a bench over there. I think I’d like to sit there for a few minutes, just to compose myself.”

Once Bilbo had seen that Dis was safely seated, he said, “If you don’t mind, I’d like to walk round a bit. There are a couple I’d like to pay my respects too.”

“Of course. Take your time, don’t hurry back for me.”

Bilbo set off and having said his own farewell to a distant cousin, returned to Kili and Fili’s graves. He took his camera out of his bag and carefully took a photo of each. Thorin had refused to come, which was why Bilbo had volunteered to accompany Dis, but he might still like to see the gravestones. If not immediately, maybe some time in the future.