A series of sad circumstances,
Led a lad of 15 to a Police station.
Here he confessed, since September
Having no regular home and by then
Had not had a bed for over a week.
Walter Bradshaw, of a school age,
Found himself charged with lack
Of any subsistence and wandering.
Walter, a gentlemanly looking boy
And well spoken, then told his story.
Having gained a grammar school
Scholarship, he was nearing end
Of his schooling, when his father
Died – his mother had also died
Some time before - without relatives
He became destitute and had been
Forced to leave the grammar school.
In gaining labour with a butcher,
Who had agreed to keep him -
But with war, the butcher failed,
And he was again on the streets.
As his clothes became shabby,
He could not find any employ,
And no one would take him in.
Mr Charles Lee, the magistrate,
Found the plucky boy admirable,
In his struggling against all odds -
Declared he would take an interest
In him and help find suitable work.
Meanwhile the Court Missionary,
Was asked to take care of him.
by Jamie Mann.
Anon.,1914. School Boy Struggles. The Daily Telegraph,
[online] 15 Dec. p.3.
Col.3. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11285856/Daily-Telegraph-December-15-1914.html [Accessed: 15 December 2014].
Mann, J., 2014. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal
communication, 15 December 2014).
#WW1 #WW1centenary #GreatWar #WW1poem #GreatWar #ww1centenary
#worldwarone #worldwaroneremembered
No comments:
Post a Comment