The Queen's Own
Royal West Kent Regiment
Arrived at Mons, on
afternoon of Saturday 23 August.
Among them, a Lance
Corporal, describes events
Prior to the day of battle,
beginning with the digging
Of entrenchments – they were
still carrying out this
When the first big shell of
the Germans struck.
Some twenty yards away, to
wreck a house.
Nearby they took shelter
behind a wall, in which
Loop-holes were made – under
heavy shrapnel fire
They remained there for
fifteen hours, overlooking
A valley – from where the
Germans came.
Enemy rifle fire was
described as 'rotten' – big guns
Covering enemy's advance,
caused the most damage.
The Germans outnumbered them
– shooting one
Down, another one lifts to
take their place.
By 4 am Monday morning, came
the retreat.
Among the rear guard the
Lance Corporal
Was wounded – close by a
shell dropped,
And fragments hit his left
leg - then he fell
Unconscious to the ground –
in recovery
He finds his rifle and
ammunition gone.
Likely taken by Germans,
thinking him dead.
Managing to make it to St
Quentin,
With other wounded, he was
transported
Along to the coast and then
onto Netley.
Stanley Crook, a native of
Dawlish
And of the 1st
Devons, writes a letter
From a hospital ship, to be
printed
In the Western Morning News,
Declared how the
Devonshire's
Gained a very warm time,
In the firing line, with
bullets
And shells, flying like the
wind,
To face massed German
attacks.
On shooting one down,
another came up.
Many were wounded, but few
men killed
D Company suffered, having
10 uninjured
Within the whole Devonshire
company.
The Germans then robbed the
wounded
Of khaki uniforms, wearing
them, thinking
That they would not be
recognised -
A German officer also took
Crook's clothes.
It was a 100 miles before he
got another suit,
Stanley Crook ends with keen
eagerness,
To get back to the front -
His rifle
And bayonet still being
hungry for more.
by
Jamie Mann
Anon.,
1914. Battle Stories - 1st Devons in a Hot Corner. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 10 Sept. p.4. Col. 1. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11077817/Daily-Telegraph-September-10-1914.html
[Accessed: 10th September 2014].
Anon.,
1914. Battle Stories - Behind a Wall at Mons. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 10 Sept. p.4. Col. 1. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11077817/Daily-Telegraph-September-10-1914.html
[Accessed: 10th September 2014].
Mann, J., 2014. 100
years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 10
September 2014).
#WW1
#WW1centenary #GreatWar #WW1poem #GreatWar #ww1centenary #worldwarone
#worldwaroneremembered #Mons
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