An officer of 1st
Battalion,
Artillery Company,
Writing on 26 November,
Described a loss and
His dislike of snipers
On the previous
occasion,
Of writing home, he had
Been in expectation
Of 48 hours in the line
-
The officer expressed,
How he would rather
Not experience it again.
The day of 25 November
Had subjected them,
To all day shelling -
Luckily they avoid
Being hit.
It was later observed
How the enemy
Had started to advance,
Resulting in exchange
Of rapid rifle fire.
With the platoon
isolated,
And two of the men lost,
Gave this officer
problems.
When need came,
To communicate
With the major,
This officer had to
cross
200 yards of broken
ground -
Being totally exposed.
Having gained a dislike
Of the journey’s necessity,
Which was the result
Of the night before -
When he had become
The subject of snipers,
On helping out wounded,
From the trenches.
Charging that same
ground
Had occurred that night
Over five occasions -
Making for ten journeys.
With the attack going
well,
A message then reached
him,
To say the platoon
sergeant
Had been seriously hit.
The officer went to him,
Sergeant Thomas,
A skilled sportsman,
Lay quite still -
His condition was fatal.
Having been the
platoon’s
Popular father figure
And a right hand man,
His death was great
loss.
He learnt the Sergeant
Had yelled, as he fell,
‘Stick to ‘em boys!’
by Jamie Mann.
Anon.,1914. ‘Stick to ‘em Boys’ –
H.A.C Sergeant’s Cry. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 4 December. p.7. Col.2. Available
at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11271104/Daily-Telegraph-December-4-1914.html [Accessed: 4 December 2014].
Mann, J., 2014. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal
communication, 4 December 2014).
#WW1 #WW1centenary #GreatWar #WW1poem #GreatWar #ww1centenary
#worldwarone #worldwaroneremembered
No comments:
Post a Comment