A member of the Royal Fusiliers, which was a British Army battalion named for the flintlock muskets they used to carry, Godley and his fellow soldiers were deployed to France on August 14 to try and stall the German advance on Paris. When the Fusiliers moved forward to Nimy, Belgium, it was apparent the French forces were going to be unable to stop the German march. It was decided to retreat to the River Marne.
To permit the large scale retreat, the Royal Fusiliers were ordered to hold two bridges over the Mons-Conde Canal while the rest of the forces withdrew to safety. They had only two machine guns against six full divisions of the German army.
Knowing the machine gun nests were their only impediment, the Germans unleashed their full weaponry upon the solitary targets. Each time a gunner fell, a new man was sent to take his place, courting suicide. As the last of the British forces were preparing to leave, Godley and another brave soul, Maurice Dease, volunteered to man the guns. Dease fell almost instantly. Godley remained alone, defending the bridge against impossible odds in order to protect his fellow soldiers. He took shrapnel in the back but kept firing, not relenting until a bullet struck him in the head.
Amazingly, Godley survived. German surgeons removed the bullets and he spent the rest of the World War I recovering in a prison camp. After the armistice, Godley received the Victoria Cross, England's highest medal for valor, in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace. There's even a new bridge in Nimy with a plaque honoring Dease and Godley's heroism.
Labels: dates, historical battels, war heroes
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