Poem ~ Two Privates Rescue Colonel - Friday, 31 October 1914

Speaking to the Birmingham Daily Mail,

Private G Jones, of the 1st Battalion

Coldstream Guards, returned home

From the military hospital at Chelsea,

Having received wounds at the Aisne.

On the 14 September forces began

To push forward from the river Aisne.

Late morning; the advance situation

Halted for the Coldstream Guards.

The 2^nd Brigade heavily being engaged,

The 1^st Brigade moved to help gain

Positions on the other company’s left,

At the top of the ridge the 1^st Cameron

Highlanders and 1^st Coldstream Guards

Caught by enemy artillery and machine

Gun fire, found themselves stalled there.

Forming an ad hoc company from

2^nd Brigade, the Coldstream’s,

Cameron Highlanders and Black

Watch, Colonel Ponsonby led them

Across the Chemin des Dames.

A Birmingham man, Private Jones

Was in the advance party, under orders

To move towards the German lines.

Through fog they made their way,

To the far end of the captured ridge

And the village of Cerny - taking

Themselves deep in German lines.

Coming to a halt on that spot,

For the remainder of that day.

In the cover of night  they made

Discovery, finding a German position

Of Maxim guns - to find they had been

Cut off from their own British side.

The fight over the Chemin des Dames

By the days end, had become stalemate.

The Germans could not be pushed off

The ridge and the British could not be

Pushed back across the Aisne.

Units that had advanced were pulled

Back - in torrents of rain and deep mud,

The first spadefuls of earth were thrown;

So began the birth of trench warfare.

In moving into the German position, 

Firing began - falling in front of them

Was their Colonel Ponsonby, who lay

Out in the open, under German guns.

Fearful that their Colonel might be

Dead, Private Vennicombe and friend,

Private Jones, decided to reach him.

The two of them, under hails of bullets,

Dashed across darkness to the Colonel.

Shot in the leg, the Colonel was alive

But unable to walk – With quick effort

They carried the officer back between

Them, safely reaching the other men.

Due to their lack of force, the decision

Was taken for them to retire – placed in

A difficult position, being cut off from

Their battalion, they were now a party

Of 40 - with 3 officers.  Making further

Difficulty was an inability to tell their

Exact position, within the battlefield.

Coming into their company came

Captain William Warde Aldham an

Officer of the Black Watch, appointed

Their leader. In the dark, with a compass

He led them to a wooded position,

That had been noted early that evening,

A place known to have a village nearby.

In cover  of trees they placed sentries

About the party in an attempt to rest.

Then in discovery, they realised the wood

Was between two German outposts, seeing

Enemy soldiers moving in the distance.

Shapes of a German convoy moved close

By -  but their lack of numbers meant their

Party could not make any successful attack.

Rain had, for some time, been falling

Hard - which while hiding them, turned

The ground to mud – any movement

Between the trees, was made difficult

With any noise likely to raise the alarm.

Moving at one mile every hour

Four men took turns to carry the Colonel.

The party made its slow, trudging way

Through the woods and by light,

Managed to rejoin their full company.

In the dark rain, they had passed

Through German outer lines, covering

Almost six miles in the night.

Colonel Ponsonby returned home to

Recuperate and in gratitude to the two

Birmingham men, gave Private Jones

A presentation, to put him forward for

Recommendation - Private Vennicombe

Since then went missing in action,

With the hope that he was taken prisoner.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1914. Battle Stories – Rescuing a Wounded Colonel. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 31 Oct. p.4. Col.4. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11186100/Daily-Telegraph-October-31-1914.html [Accessed: 31 October 2014].

Dickerson, B.J., 2009. Submitted by SteveMerc Globe at War - 1/Black Watch on the Aisne. [online] (Updated Saturday, 16 September 2014) Available at: < http://www.globeatwar.com/blog-entry/1black-watch-aisne> Accessed 31st October 2014].

Mann, J., 2014. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 31 October 2014). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11186100/Daily-Telegraph-October-31-1914.html

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Poem ~ The Dead Stand Up - Friday, 30 October 1914

On the 29^th day of battle Lieutenant

T.H. Watson explains to a lady friend,

That rather than a battle, they are

Almost taking part in a campaign.

The 2^nd Worcestershire Regiment

Began their part on 13 September

And remained in the front line,

For a total of eight days, then moved

Away to rest – they found shelter

Out on a farm until they were shelled.

Lieutenant Watson described,

How he then lived as a nomad.

Staying in one village during the day

To spend the night in another village,

Until finally they returned to the front.

The Guards Brigade, with the artillery

And his Worcestershire Regiment,

Captured eight guns – who had lost

Some 500 men within the woods –

One enemy gun suddenly stopped

Firing - later they found that a shell,

Had ripped off the gunners head.

The following day rained heavy

As heavy – they found a barn

Half full of straw, open on all sides,

In which they buried themselves.

Lieutenant Watson on waking

The next morning found a heavy

Quarter master-sergeant,

Pinned on him, so he could not

Move - still soaked on waking,

The rain was then joined by wind.

Remaining there until the evening,

They moved to the German positions

Encountering a patrol where three

Men Were hit – they found the field

Covered with Germans, dead, dying

And wounded – they came to a trench

Where 30 Germans stood, their rifles

On the parapet, but all were dead.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1914. Battle Stories – Standing Upright, but Dead. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 30 Oct. p.3. Col.6. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11186087/Daily-Telegraph-October-30-1914.html [Accessed: 30 October 2014].

Mann, J., 2014. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 30 October 2014). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11186087/Daily-Telegraph-October-30-1914.html

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Poem ~ Shackleton: A Last Cablegram - Friday, 30 October 1914

Sir Ernest Shackleton

Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_Trans-Antarctic_Expedition [Accessed on 15 November 2014]

The New York World, publication

Received a Wednesday cablegram

Sent by Sir Ernest Shackleton.

Dated 28 October, Buenos Ayres

To state their warm welcome,

Where authorities have assisted

All they can, in their expedition.

Shackleton states how this will be,

The last cable on the team’s final step

To the Antarctic – the task described

As ‘white warfare,’ gives the message

Of their temporary farewell;

‘We shall do our best to make good.’

The explorer notes the expedition

Will be cut off from the world, but all

Prayers and thoughts are for their,

‘Brothers fighting at the front.’

He hopes that by their undertaking

They will add to scientific progress,

For national liberty and honour,

With achievements and discoveries.

Shackleton states part of their plan

Has been changed – the Endurance,

After landing the expedition members,

Will proceed to winter in the Antarctic;

Instead of sailing to South Georgia

And Buenos Ayres – such a change

Allows the use of coal, stored aboard,

For them to move rapidly southwards.

On leaving Georgia the ‘Endurance’

Will examine pack ice to see if this

Is loose enough to break through.

Reports received have suggested

That a heavy ice season exists

In the Weddell Sea – the Endurance 

Will then be wintered at south latitude

77.30 degrees, while the journey may

Continue, if gaining an earlier date.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1914. Antarctic Expedition – Farwell Message – Change of Plan. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 30 Oct. p.3. Col.1. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11186087/Daily-Telegraph-October-30-1914.html [Accessed: 30 October 2014].

Mann, J., 2014. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 30 October 2014). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11186087/Daily-Telegraph-October-30-1914.html

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Poème ~ Un soldat donne Récompense - Vendredi 30 Octobre 1914

Sur la place du Châtelet, Paris
Est venu un seul soldat français,
Son uniforme et des bottes encore
Souillé par la boue de tranchées.
Il marchait en traînant une jambe,
Ayant été blessé à l'avant.
En arrivant sur un policier,
Converser avec un parisien,
Le soldat a fait appel à l'aide.

Aborder le policier, il a dit
De sa soif - qu'il était sur la route
Pour répondre et rester avec ses parents.
Le soldat avait été donné 20 jours
Convalescence de ses blessures;
Mais ce soir-là avait nulle part où dormir.

L'homme parisien a eu pitié
Sur ce soldat blessé.
L'homme a dit qu'il était le bienvenu
Pour manger et boire et si besoin est,
Pour rester avec eux pendant un certain temps.
Pris de court par la gentillesse,
Le soldat a accepté l'homme.

Il était deux heures quand ils sont venus
Dans la maison parisienne,
Quand l'homme appelé à sa femme,
Pour «préparer un repas et
Donner une bonne bouteille de vin
Pour ce soldat blessé.

La femme prêts mis à faire
Certains aliments - alors rappelé
Une bouteille de vin qu'elle avait gardé,
Parmi les autres objets, légués
Pour sa par une tante excentrique.

Trouver la bouteille dans sa cave
Elle a apporté ce dans la lumière.
Comme elle a fait pour ouvrir le vin
Entré une surprise complète -
Autour du cou a été soigneusement
Enveloppé d'un billet de 500 francs.

Également une note dans sa tante excentrique de
écriture; «Puisque vous avez décidé de
Boire cette bouteille à la naissance de votre
Premier enfant, je me réserve cette petite surprise
Pour vous. »Heureusement verser le vin,
Ils ont bu à la santé du soldat.

Par Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1914. Virtue’s Reward – Samaritans and Soldier. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 30 Oct. p.3. Col.2. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11186087/Daily-Telegraph-October-30-1914.html [Accessed: 30 October 2014].

Mann, J., 2014. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 30 October 2014). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11186087/Daily-Telegraph-October-30-1914.html

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Poem ~ Soldier Brings Reward - Friday, 30 October 1914

In the Place du Chatelet, Paris

Came a lone French soldier,

His uniform and boots still

Stained by the mud of trenches.

He walked, dragging a leg,

Having been injured at the front.

On coming across a policeman,

Conversing with a Parisian,

The soldier appealed for help.

Addressing the policeman, he told

Of his thirst – that he was on route

To meet and stay with his parents.

The soldier had been given 20 days

Convalescence for his wounds;

But that night had nowhere to sleep.

The Parisian man took pity

On this wounded soldier.

The man said he was welcome

To eat and drink and if needs be,

To stay with them for a time.

Taken aback by the kindness,

The soldier accepted the man.

It was 2 a.m. when they stepped

Into the Parisian house,

When the man called to his wife,

To ‘prepare a meal and

Give a good bottle of wine

For this wounded soldier.’

The willing wife set to making

Some food - then recalled

A bottle of wine she had kept,

Among other items, bequeathed

To her by an eccentric aunt.

Finding the bottle in their cellar

She brought this into the light.

As she made to open the wine

Came a complete surprise –

About the neck was carefully

Wrapped a 500 franc note.

Also a note in her eccentric aunt’s

Writing; ‘Since you have decided to

Drink this bottle at the birth of your

First child, I reserve this little surprise

For you.’ Happily pouring the wine,

They drank to the soldier’s health.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1914. Virtue’s Reward – Samaritans and Soldier. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 30 Oct. p.3. Col.2. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11186087/Daily-Telegraph-October-30-1914.html [Accessed: 30 October 2014].

Mann, J., 2014. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 30 October 2014). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11186087/Daily-Telegraph-October-30-1914.html

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Poem ~ Pranks in the Trenches - Friday, 29 October 1914

With talk of entrenchment becoming more

Commonplace, comes humour to involve

French and German soldiers - who have

Already faced each other for many weeks;

Now in set trenches along the banks

Of the river Aisne -  In spite of discomfort

And daily horror, are shared amusements

And even a little pleasantry behaviour.

Sheltering in their concrete lined system

Of ditches, the Germans sent off a joke

Carried on four feet, in chasing a horse

Across to the French Lines – A placard

Had been hung about the horse’s neck

Attached with German newspapers.

The sign the horse carried, read

‘Good day to the Frenchman!

Do you know that Russia is beaten,

All along the line and that Antwerp

Is taken?’ It seems that on seeing

The joke, the French actually smiled.

Elsewhere, soldiers passed the time in

Devising humour – a French junior officer

Spoke of the fact, that the German trench

Is little more than forty yards apart, so when

The Germans began to sing; a competition

Began, as to who can sing the loudest.

The French officer explains how they have

Musicians such as an accordionist and flautist,

Who became accompanists to the songs.

Whenever each side was not shooting

Back at the other side these duets went on. 

Opposing forces are so close, voices carried

Well, so the French clearly heard commands

Given in the German trenches.

The officer admits that tricks and jokes

Are all part of their daily fighting routine.

On that very morning the French officer

Said there was another German prank

Played out – when they sent across

A goat, with a card about its neck saying;

‘And you messieurs les,

Francais How are you?’

The goat was seen as being obstinate

And troublesome - although they called

To the goat to approach, the goat did

Not like the barbed wire and would

Not come nearer for some time - Finally

He arrived on the French side and once

There would not go back to the Germans,

Despite their shouts of ‘Komm! Komm!’ 

It was decided that he was a French goat.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1914. Jokers in the Trenches  - Four-footed Messengers. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 29 Oct. p.13. Col.4. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11186080/Daily-Telegraph-October-29-1914.html [Accessed: 29 October 2014].

Mann, J., 2014. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 29 October 2014). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11186080/Daily-Telegraph-October-29-1914.html

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Poem ~ Stalemate and German Trick - Wednesday, 28 October 1914

Near Troyon, during the Battle of the Aisne,

Various incidents involved a detachment,

Of a Northamptonshire regiment, showing

Cool bravery and dogged determination.

160 men, two subalterns, three officers,

And a captain - being some way ahead,

Of the main body, set to make entrenchments

By a roadside. Opposite  them up to 500

Germans were also entrenched - between,

Lay a turnip field - some 250 yards wide.

Finding their trench fed by waters rolling

Off the road, the British quickly found

Themselves knee deep in water logged mud.

a lack of greatcoats, lost in their retreat from

Mons only added to make rest problematic,

Along with the need to observe the enemy.

General discomfort further caused by shelling

From the German guns, set behind the enemy

Entrenchments – the British finding at their rear

Shelter and a haystack, where seventy German

Wounded remained - left by their own forces.

This basic 'hospital' where the deserted, injured

Germans lay, lucky to still receive treatment,

Could only be accessed by a man crawling

On all fours – bundles of hay were gathered,

Utilised in trying to dry the ground of the trench -

Again and again the water percolated through.

To gain water and bully beef men had to crawl

At night to the rear - Equally the German side

Dared not lift above ground for fear of British

Shots. During the five days a British Captain

Lifted his head to the skyline, to be shot dead.

Later a subaltern being severely hit, also died.

The result as a single subaltern with less than

A year’s service, was forced to take charge.

The haystack sheltering German wounded

Was finally hit by a shell and set ablaze.

Under heavy fire men in the British trench

Could not move to assist them – they heard

The yells and horrendous cries of wounded

Men unable to escape from the fierce fire.

As each day passed in the Northamptonshire

Trench – the  appalling conditions made ague.

While increased wounds reduced the effective

Fighters  - among the company a man, a crack

Shot, took action on successive nights -

Camouflaged with a wool knitted hat, disguised

With turnip leaves, crawled into the turnip crop.

The Northamptonshire sniper waited, patient,

Until any German movement was made - then

A trigger pulled, a pained cry and one foe less -

After more days came the end of the stalemate.

The Germans, believing in the British strength,

Raised arms and rifles in surrender - in scattered

Formation, marching to them across the field.

Cautiously the subaltern left the English trench

To meet the enemy – A German private moved

To him, but the subaltern made the insistent order

That an officer should approach – the private retired.

Then another private came forward - Again a yelled

Command was made for an officer – then came

Forward a captain, a sergeant and a private.

The English subaltern waited and addressed them;

‘You are my prisoner.’ The German captain snapped

‘No, you are my prisoner!’ – while the original idea

Was to surrender, their intentions changed when

the Captain glanced into the English trench to see 

A greatly depleted force,  The German Captain

Made a signal to his men, about the field to move.

They edged towards the subaltern - under the threat

Of the Captain's intent, the subaltern fired and shot

Him dead - he turned and killed the sergeant.

The private leapt at the subaltern and they fought

Falling on the ground - as German shots rang about.

The subaltern fell down unconscious – two shots

Had passed into the top of his cap a third hit his

Regimental cap badge to stun him - a fourth bullet

Wounded him in the shoulder. At the very outset

Of the event, some Northamptonshire soldiers 

Had also left their trench as a number of Germans

Handed over their rifles to shake hands with them.

Other Germans edged towards the trench, then

At the parapet, opened fire at point blank range.

A skirmish ensued, as a machine gun opened fire

On the Germans, to cut them down, while others

Fell to the bayonet – 300 out of 500 being killed.

At a short distance, a machine gun detachment

Of the Queen’s regiment, had observed and made

Assistance - in the force of Coldstream Guards

The final 100 German infantry surrendered.

Over the five days of the Northamptonshire

Trench of the soldiers left, from the original 166

Were eight and four wounded men still fighting fit.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1914. Thrilling Story of Fight Against Heavy Odds – Subaltern’s Adventure. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 28 Oct. p.12. Col.7. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11186051/Daily-Telegraph-October-28-1914.html [Accessed: 28 October 2014].

Mann, J., 2014. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 28 October 2014). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11186051/Daily-Telegraph-October-28-1914.html

http://worldwaroneblogger.blogspot.co.uk/

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