Then the immediate soldiers behind their fallen comrades tripped over their prostrate bodies and hit the concrete hard.  Rifle fire was constantly zipping over Corporal Jones’s position in the direction of the charging Germans. The rate of fire from his remaining men was fantastic round after round hit German soldiers knocking them off their feet in death screams.

Corporal Jones knew that without the second Vickers being manned the German soldiers would win out through shear superior numbers.  Line after line of German infantry ran onto the bridge and raced towards Jones.  Corporal Jones looked back to his entrenched men and waved for them to advance towards his position.  Private Blake broke from cover firing his Lee Enfield rifle as he ran.  A German sniper in a tree let fly a volley of well aimed bullets that took Private Blake into the next world if there is one!

Only 8 British infantry men remained alive the British position was hopeless Corporal Jones was cut off and he was bleeding profusely from his shattered left leg.  The words spoken by the Captain yesterday kept ringing in his ears  “Hold the bridge at all costs!”  Corporal Jones was shaking badly as he changed out the magazine drum on the overheating Vickers machine gun.

A bullet struck Jones’s metal helmet and glanced sideways against Corporal Jones scull!  Jones momentarily fell backwards from the shock as blood ran freely down the right side of his head.  A heavy artillery shell exploded behind Corporal Jones and the Lee Enfield’s fell silent, most of No3 platoon were dead or dying on the French embankment.

Realising the hopelessness of his position Corporal Jones had to make a decision was he to give up or fight till his last breath? No one would ever blame him for surrendering he was virtually alone and bleeding heavily.

Corporal Jones had made his mind up in an instance, he leaned forward and once more cocked the firing lever on the Vickers machine gun.  Jones pulled the wooden stock of the machine gun tight into his shoulder and squeezed the trigger.  12 German soldiers fell to the Vickers machine gun until a well aimed hand grenade blew the machine gun nest to oblivion which Took Corporal Jones with it.  The bridge fell at 07.56 into German hands.

Corporal Jones and his platoon held the bridge for 31 minutes against insurmountable odds.  In those 31 minutes it gave 152 soldiers time to retreat into the safety of their trenches, at what cost?
  
                                            The End