Corporal Jones and the nest.

                                       July 1916 France Europe

Corporal Jones stood on the very edge of the concrete bridge arch and surveyed the deep fast flowing river that divided Belgium from France.  Since yesterday Corporal Jones had been in charge of No3 platoon Middlesex light infantry.  Captain Miller and Sergeant Briggs had been killed outright when a Howitzer shell exploded in their dugout.

Corporal Jones had 17 British infantry soldiers looking to him for leadership and strength.  Two stripes on his uniform left him with the awesome responsibility of caring for the safety of these 17 lives. He had the responsibility of 17 families hopes of seeing their brothers and sons return from the god awful slaughter of WW1.

Late last night Jones had received orders to hold the bridge in sector 11 at all costs, German troops were set to over-run the bridge and sweep across the low lands and cut off all of the front line of the Middlesex regiment.  He remembered the Captain of No2 platoon drumming in the outstanding need to hold onto the bridge no matter if it was to the last man.  Extra ammunition was handed out to his men.  There were two Vickers machine guns between his whole platoon. The rest of the men were issued with Lee Enfield .303 rifles and 3 hand grenades per man.

At 07.25 Corporal Jones deployed his men in a sagged line surrounding the concrete bridge.  On either side of the first bridge support a group of two men manned the Vickers tripod mounted machine guns.  At 07.35  German small arms fire raked the bridge support.  Jones’s soldiers returned fire bravely, machine gun bullets hit the dense bushes where the German troops were taking cover.

A German soldier fell forward from the under growth his face a mess of blood and cartilage! 5 German soldiers ran at a crouch towards the British end of the bridge 2 soldiers were cut down instantly by the spitting Vickers machine guns.  One German soldier came close enough to throw a stick grenade at the machine gun nests.  Private Brown and private Dunn were killed instantly their limbs flying loosely as the fell into the torrent of the river.