Poem ~ Sergeant Shoots Private - Tuesday, 29 December 1914

An army in war does not rest,

Even on Christmas night.

One such contingent being

The 6^th (Reserve) Battalion,

Welsh Regiment - then

Based at Swansea, Wales.

The hour being dark, when

From the Battalion, marched

A party of men to make their way

To the drill hall  - among them

A Sergeant William Hopper.

As they marched, a rifle

Suddenly discharged -

If it fell or if it was knocked,

Or perhaps even shot -

Remained a mystery - but

Likely fired from the hand

Of Sergeant Hopper, to hit

Two soldiers - Private Gates

And Private E. Dudley.

With one man wounded,

The other man was dead -

Private Gates recovered

In the Swansea Hospital -

Yet a charge for the death

Of Private Dudley was laid

Against the Sergeant - held

In Custody for a week.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1914. Shot by Accident. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 29 Dec. p.12. Col.5. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11310995/Daily-Telegraph-December-29-1914.html [Accessed: 29 December August 2014].

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

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11310995/Daily-Telegraph-December-29-1914.html

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