Women of War - A Band of Brothers Story

Aldbourne

Hey guys! Here we are again with another chapter :) Gosh, I can't wait for the holidays so I can focus more on writing instead of having my brain cluttered up with all the projects and deadlines and drama etc etc. Well, my Christmas holidays are actually two weeks of exam prep, but since I only have two exams this semester, I have a lot of time for writing :)

So, initially, I had this chapter split into two, but the two parts were kinda short, so I decided to combine them. Hope you don't mind. In case you were wondering, the other chapter was going to be called "Fences and Majors and Cows, oh my!".

Aldbourne was a quaint little town, a picturesque piece of paradise in the midst of war. It was absurd and also a bit sad, really, that the green fields and gently rolling hills were now the showplace of military drills and realism training.

Orienteering, field exercises, tactics and platoon manoeuvres, the list was never-ending. The soldiers had also been made aware of local customs and that they were to behave accordingly.

Command had briefly considered billeting the women in host families to avoid scandalising the vocals, but that had been met with such fervent opposition that they ultimately let them stay in the enlisted personnel's barracks.

***

Irene smiled to herself as she thought back to their first day off the ship, when a group of them had marched into Sink's office to protest the plan to billet the women with local families. From Easy, it had been her, Maxine and Ana María. From Dog, Esther Bowman had joined them, along with Audrey Maynard and Cassandra Jessup from Fox Company.

Between the six of them, it hadn't taken them long to convince the colonel that separating them from their companies would only do harm.

Being raised in the upper class, Maxine had a sense for politics. Esther Bowman's father was a lawyer and Cassandra Jessup was simply a wily character who had the most impressive talent to turn people's words against them when it suited her.

"Colonel, with all due respect, how are we supposed to integrate ourselves in our companies and be seen as equals by the men if we are constantly given preferential treatment?", Audrey had questioned eventually, the rest of them nodding in support.

The 506's commander had had to resist the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose, equal parts exasperated and proud. Exasperated because each and every argument he offered was shot down with elegant determination and proud for exactly the same thing.

These women had spines of steel and were not to be trifled with. Eloquent, infallibly polite and absolutely unrelenting, they stood up for themselves and their sisters-in-arms. It was something that the Army – and he himself, he had to admit – never would have imagined when the women soldiers' experiment had been initiated.

Sink had regarded the six women before him with a collected gaze. "Well", he had said, allowing a small smile to cross his features, "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't damned impressed by your courage and your loyalty to your comrades and companies. You have made a very good point and were very convincing."

They had all waited with baited breath, trying to keep their expressions as neutral and blank as possible while inside, they were dancing with triumph.

"You'll be billeted in the barracks", he had then decided, giving them an approving nod. They had saluted with happy smiles on their faces.

***

Irene continued to let her thoughts roam as she cleaned and shone her boots. After the last night march, they were caked with mud, dust clinging to the leather from sole to rim. She flicked away a piece of dried dirt that she had pried out of the profile of her sole, watching it fly through the air and land on the ground.