A gentleman
receives a letter,
From a Parisian
friend, latterly
Serving in front
line trenches.
The enemy is a
target for many
A practical joke
- being an army,
Of variously
known dull wits.
A French infantry regiment was
Positioned
between the Vosges
And the Aisne -
whose trenches
Were fairly close
to their
German
equivalents.
Theese French
soldiers possessed
Various Parisian
Newspapers.
Maurice Daumont,
a man
From the
boulevards of Paris,
Crept one night
across open
Ground - carrying
a present.
Stopping at
hundred yards,
From the enemy's
place.
He planted a
stick, upon
Which he hung a
package.
The gift
contained numbers
Of recent
Parisian Journals -
Attached to this
was a letter.
The jist of
which, explained, how
By some oversight,
the editors
Of French papers
had,
Mistakenly forgot
to include
Delivery to them
- since their
Decision to stay
in this hospitable
Country - with
empathy, they see
It can be
annoying to be without
News, when only
given German
Papers - which
are quite incorrect,
With tendancy to
exaggerate.
The letter
continues, saying
This gift of a
consignment,
Will give them
news from
Servia, Russia,
England, Belgium
And even Japan -
acknowledging
Unavoidable their
unconventional
Delivery - they
go onto say,
That if this
appeals to them, they
Would happily
receive the most
Sympathetic
Berlin papers back.
This also has the
benefit to test
Accuracy of
intelligence
Stated in the
German press -
In reply their
address should
Go to the 8th
Company - reasons
For the censor
might object
To giving name of
any regiment.
Signed, Maurice
Daumont.
Adding a PS, was
the offers
Of good board and
quarters,
Guaranteed to all
lodgers.
After some
minutes passage,
The Parisians
observed a slow
German, crawling
cautiously
To the stick -
when he saw
Their French eyes
looking.
Believing this
was an ambush
He was going to
turn, when
The French lifted
their hands,
In reassurance - and by gesture,
Indicated to take
the parcel -
Assured, the
German reached
And took the
packet, to cheers
Coming from the
Parisians.
The following day
had a response.
A
non-commissioned German
Officer,
approached the French -
He was unarmed
and alone.
He said he wished
to take up their
Offer of fare and
lodging, to add
His example would
soon
Be copied, by his
brother-in-arms.
by Jamie Mann.
de Bathe, P., 1914. Exchange
of News - Parisians in the Trenches. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 22 Dec. p.6. Col.3. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11299400/Daily-Telegraph-December-22-1914.html [Accessed: 22December 2014].
Mann, J., 2014. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication,
22 December 2014).
#WW1 #WW1centenary #GreatWar #WW1poem #GreatWar #ww1centenary
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