If Bridges could talk . . .
Sitting on my back deck looking at the view. There's serious history here. No, not the chateau in the background although it's very nice indeed. The weight of history in this nice little village of Long on the Somme rests in the unremarkable bridge. Built with concrete casting and a brick parapet, the town have brightened it up with flowers. But traffic rolls between the 2 sides of the village all day and I doubt many stop to consider what might have happened here. The history I'm thinking of started on 20th May 1940 when the German army occupied the upper village and made ready to cross the Somme on their march west along the channel coast. The French army set up on the long road approaching the bridge from the west in order to prevent the crossing. Fighting reached a peak on 2 June when Captain Martel and his squadron of anti tank troops held their place as they were destroyed to the last man by the German artillery set up in front of the chateau....