Poem ~ Defiance of French Flag - Sunday, 20 December 1914

From Paris Midi journal, conveyed

A story of curious humour, coming from

The French, posted in the vanguard -

Somewhere out on a battle line.

A sharp-witted French Lieutenant,

Tells his tale with some proportion,

Of joviality within his letter– he starts

By describing their general situation.

A dividing piece of land of 200 yards,

Stood between French and Germans.

Upon their right was a field of beetroot,

While on the left, a field of crop stubble.

Exactly in between the trenches stood

A derelict machine, of the reaping kind.

The previous night, from when he writes,

It was about 9 p.m. when he took rest,

In the luxurious quarters for the officers.

Then a knock on the curtain, heralded

The appearance of one certain trooper.

A sturdy Savoyard with salute addressed

His officer, giving his many apologies

for disturbance, as he said he had received

A parcel from home, in Southwest France.

The Lieutenant stated how pleased

He was for him, making the assumption,

This was some clothing, for winter warmth.

The Savoyard said, in fact it was the flag

Of France - intended for an idea he had.

In explanation to his officer, the man told

How he had already made preparation,

For a twelve-foot pole - with intention

Being, from which to hang the tricolour.

In seeking permission the man would

Then attach the flagpole, where stood

The rusting reaping machine, directly

In front of the German line of trenches.

The presence of this French flag, he said

Would then act as reminder, to enemy,

Who tended to forget they were not

On their own territory -The officer warned,

In less than ten yards he’d be riddled.

But being confidant, the Savoyard's trade

Had been a slater - he would easily crawl

On his stomach. With his mind already set,

Permission was given by the Lieutenant.

Within a quick thirty minutes, the bright flag

Of France flew before the German trench -

And the determined Savoyard was back,

Without so much of a sign of a tiny scratch.

The greatly amused Lieutenant, then

Raised the issue, how might the Germans

Then replace the flag with their very own -

The Savoyard said any attempt to do this,

This would be sorted within thirty minutes.

The officer learned the trooper had crawled

Back to the reaper, to attach a string

To the post - linking this to a carriage bell,

Fixed between two stakes with a note:

‘Alarm signal, in case of danger pull the cord.’ 

The story of the flag being raised thus,

Had by the next day passed about trenches –

So came requests, by all staff officers,

For the Savoyard to create more installations.

The result of the system happened in daylight -

The assumption was that a German Officer,

Coming next day, was furious at the sight

Of the flag- ordering the two sentries of the night,

To immediately go out, to take down the flag.

The two German soldiers, out of their trenches,

Ran towards the raised flag. Barely ten yards

From the reaper, they were shot down -

This had been an act of pure suicide by men -

dying by French bullets, rather than their officer.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1914. Settling a Death Trap – Story of a Flag. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 19 Dec. p.7. Col.3. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11299373/Daily-Telegraph-December-19-1914.html [Accessed: 20 December 2014].

Mann, J., 2014. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 20 December 2014). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11299373/Daily-Telegraph-December-19-1914.html 

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