Poem ~ Home Dangers to Soldiers - Friday, 31 December 1915

Impression sketch of PC Holloway observing Henry Underwood talking to wounded soldiers.

A British Town from Anglo Saxon Times

With a long history, Walton on Thames

Lay at the heart of a country's unity of war

Less than 20 miles from seat or power -

A picture place in leafy county of Surrey.

The London suburb of Walton had various

Large houses - one of which was Mount

Felix estate - with an intention to turn

The Italianate villa to become a riverside

Country club; but was taken by War Office.

Initially holding British troops, June 1915

Saw the villa converted into a military

Hospital, for New Zealand casualties - 350

Beds situated between River Thames

And Walton Bridge, to be a model hospital.

With grounds of 18 acres, gardens and
Green fields allowed convalescent soldiers

Good walks - while the Thames opened

Opportunities for boating - such sights

Of hospital blue were common in Walton.

A local Police constable had his orders,

To provide protection to the wounded

Men from the public - as in any liquors

Being given - PC Holloway was on duty

In the Broadway, wearing plain clothes.

Henry Underwood, a local man from

Sunbury Lane, appeared on road leading

A horse - when four convalescent soldiers

In hospital blue, spoke to him. With eager

Eyes Holloway watched their exchange.

One of the four passed him some money;

While three stayed with the horse, one

Man went with Mr. Underwood to walk

To a grocers on Winchester Road - the

PC saw him re-emerge carrying a bottle.

He was seen holding a bottle of whisky

Under his coat which he then gave

To the soldiers  - this led to Underwood

To stand before County Bench, held

At Kingston-on-Thames to be charged.

'A bottle of whisky given to members

Of his majesty's forces to intoxicate

Such soldiers' - Underwood apologised

To state initially saying no - believing

No harm in going into a grocer's shop.

The men had given him money and

He returned a bottle of Johnnie Walker -

To be told police had a problematic time,

To seek who gave whisky to wounded

At Walton, such an offence was serious.

The Superintendent Marshall felt

How public should know of severity

Of punishment - in further prevention

A charge to be raised would gain

Him six months in prison or £100 fine.

With the soldiers seemingly absolved,

The Chairman, on this first such case,

Ordered Henry Underwood would need

To pay £1 fine - but in future any case

In Walton would a gain a severe fine.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1915. Treating Wounded Soldiers - Warning To The Public. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 28 December. P.4. Col.4. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12072899/Daily-Telegraph-December-31-1915.html [Accessed: 31 December 2015].

Source: File: 1915. World War One Anzac link remains in Walton to this day. 31 December 2015. Available Online at: <http://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/nostalgia/world-war-one-anzac-link-7577804> Accessed 31 December 2015

Source: File: 1915. Walton-on-Thames. 31 December 2015. Available Online at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walton-on-Thames> Accessed 31 December 2015

Mann, J., 2015. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 31 December 2015). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12072899/Daily-Telegraph-December-31-1915.html

http://worldwaroneblogger.blogspot.co.uk/

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Poem ~ Old Soldier Carries On - Thursday, 30 December 1915

Impression sketch of Corporal Charles Surrugue.

A report came by way of a representative,

With the French army, Mr Warner Allen -

As part of the British Press, told a story

Of a unique man in loyalty to his country.

An officer party had gathered to share lunch,

Situated ten miles behind the lines  - one

Of the officers arrived late, to drew attention

To a mention in despatches of Journal Officiel.

A French Corporal, Charles Surrugue No 9,131

At the age of 76, a 1870 Veteran and knight

Of Legion of Honour, had volunteered his

Service for the war's duration - a model soldier.

Surrugue serving in the 9th Company, 6th

Regiment of Engineers at age of 76, asked

To serve as a sapper at the front, to share

The work with his company, in full strength.

As a role to younger soldiers young Surrugue

Worked night and day with energy, discipline

And eagerness while under enemy fire - first

They believed a misprint - maybe to read 67.

A debate among them ensued as to how such

A man of that age could endure a campaign's

Hardships - to conclude that they should find

The veteran's company that lay within the area.

As an after dinner task, the officers set off

To meet 6th Regiment of Engineers - based

In a small village, that hours before suffered

A bombardment, to ask if Surrugue was about.

One sturdy sapper paused in his work in belief

He might be about - but fact was Surrugue

Was at work, they were unsure where but felt

He was at a quarry - to give a vague direction.

In determination the officer group set off to find

The place - Yet a map gave no sign of a quarry -

As they progressed through a wood, very likely

To give up, to find a man carrying a pickaxe.

The small man, with the axe on his shoulder,

Wore a white beard - the officers gave theory

That as he was a corporal and sapper he could

Be Surrugue - he was, to be surprised by them.

The Corporal after a few minutes discussion

Took them to his shelter, whose roof leaked

With water - there underground, the modest

Man provided them an account of his story.

In attribution to a man half his age Surrugue,

With his white moustache and pointed bead,

Had fortune of a fresh complexion - his old

Age of greenery he put down to much walking.

Prior to war his work was as a civil engineer -

To say he walked miles to maintain railways

In his area - and from 1902 for twelve years,

He had been mayor of his hometown Auxerre.

Before being Mayor during the war of 1870

Surrugue, a military engineer, with given rank

Of captain, served army of General Faidherbe;

During that time to be mentioned despatches.

In 1872 he drew plans of Arras-Etaples branch

Railway as well as to begin Saint-en-Ternoise

Station  - 44 years later to pick up the pickaxe

Again; this time in the role as Sapper Surrugue.

With ownership of the Legion of Honour, surely

The other men guessed his true identity, asked

An officer - only after earning Croix de Guerre

Had Surrugue worn medal beside red ribbon.

In philosophy of humility Surrugue beleived

That what was done in civil life did not count -

That he was just a sapper to makes trenches

Alongside the others - why had he volunteered?

Surrugue felt that a man with physical ability

Should be allowed at the front - as he passed

The medical fitness tests he left, his relief work

In the hands of capable women, for his training.

July 1915, had found him on frontline to assist

September's offensive, to become Corporal -

In October being decorated,  surprised him -

Only because of his age - having done nothing.

Surrugue's reticence was how others did more

Than him, so he set out to earn Croix de Guerre.

Surrugue believed the one advantage of age

Was to inform the young of 1870 hardships.

When time eventually came for officers to leave,

Surrugue asked how he looked? The reason

For three months he had not looked in a glass -

One officer told Surrugue how fit he looked.

A final matter was where were the quarries?

Surrugue pointed to holes, known as quarries

Where stones were extracted - which looked

Like shell holes - in war nothing was strange.

With their excursion then ended the officers

Left Surrugue in peace to work - to reiterate

How nothing should be a surprise, even to

Find a corporal of 76 in nonexistent quarry.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1915. A Veteran of 76 - Sapper Surrugue's Story. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 28 December. P.10. Col.2. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12064942/Daily-Telegraph-December-28-1915.html [Accessed: 30 December 2015].

Mann, J., 2015. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 30 December 2015). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12064942/Daily-Telegraph-December-28-1915.html

http://worldwaroneblogger.blogspot.co.uk/

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Poème ~ Ancien soldat porte sur- Jeudi 30 Décembre 1915

Impression esquisse du caporal Charles Surrugue

Une histoire est venu par le biais d'un représentant,
Avec l'armée française - M. Warner Allen, dans le cadre 
De la presse britannique, a raconté une histoire
D'un homme unique dans la fidélité à son pays.

Un parti d'officier avait réunis pour partager le déjeuner,
Situé à dix miles derrière les lignes - un
Parmi les officiers sont arrivés en retard, à attiré l'attention
Pour une mention dans les dépêches de Journal Officiel.

Français caporal, Charles Surrugue Aucune 9131
À l'âge de 76 ans, était un ancien combattant de 1870 
Et chevalier de la Légion d'honneur, d'avoir donné de son
Service pour la durée de la guerre - un soldat modèle.

Surrugue, servant dans la 9e compagnie, 6e
Régiment du génie âgés de 76 ans, a demandé
Pour servir comme un sapeur à l'avant, à partager
Le travail avec sa compagnie, dans une bonne résistance.

Comme un rôle aux jeunes soldats, jeune Surrugue
Jour et nuit avec de l'énergie, de la discipline de travail
Et empressement sous le feu de l'ennemi - à première
Ils croyaient une coquille - à-dire 67 ans?

Un débat entre eux a suivi, la manière dont ces un homme
De cet âge pouvait supporter une campagne de difficultés 
Pour conclure qu'ils devraient trouver la compagnie
De l'ancien combattant se trouvant près de cette zone.

Comme une tâche après le dîner, les officiers partirent
Pour répondre 6e régiment du génie - base
Dans un petit village qui heures avant souffert
Un bombardement - pour demander si Surrugue était environ.

Un sapeur solide pause dans sa tâche, dans la croyance
Il pourrait être d'environ - mais le fait était Surrugue
Était au travail, ils ne savaient pas où, mais se sentaient
Il était dans une carrière - pour donner une direction vague.

Dans la détermination du groupe officier partit pour trouver
Le lieu - Pourtant, une carte ne donnait aucun signe d'une carrière -
Comme ils ont progressé à travers un bois, très probable
Pour abandonner, puis de trouver un homme portant une pioche.

Le petit homme, avec la hache sur l'épaule,
Portait une barbe blanche - les officiers ont donné la théorie
Que, comme il était caporal sapeur et qu'il pouvait
Soyez Surrugue - il était, d'être surpris par eux.

Le caporal après quelques minutes de discussion
Il leur a fallu à son abri, dont le toit fuite
Avec de l'eau - il souterrain, le modeste
L'homme leur a fourni un compte rendu de son histoire.

Dans attribution à un demi-homme de son âge Surrugue,
Avec sa moustache blanche et perles pointu,
Eu la fortune d'un teint frais - son vieux
Age de verdure il posa à la marche.

Avant la guerre son travail était comme un ingénieur civil -
Pour dire qu'il marchait miles pour maintenir les chemins de fer
Dans son domaine - et à partir de 1902, pendant douze ans,
Il avait été maire de sa ville natale Auxerre.

Avant d'être maire pendant la guerre de 1870
Surrugue, un ingénieur militaire, avec rang donné
De capitaine, servi armée du général Faidherbe;
Pendant ce temps, d'être mentionné dépêches.

En 1872, il a attiré des plans d'Arras-Etaples branche
Chemin de fer ainsi que de commencer à Saint-en-Ternoise
Station - 44 ans plus tard pour ramasser la pioche
De nouveau; cette fois dans le rôle de Sapeur Surrugue.

Avec la propriété de la Légion d'honneur, sûrement
Les autres hommes deviné sa véritable identité, demandé
Un officier - seulement après avoir obtenu la Croix de Guerre
Surrugue avait porté la médaille à côté ruban rouge.

Dans la philosophie de l'humilité Surrugue croyait
Ce qui a été fait dans la vie civile ne comptait pas -
Qu'il était juste un sapeur à fait tranchées
Parallèlement à d'autres - pourquoi avait-il volontaire?

Surrugue estimé qu'un homme avec la capacité physique
Devraient être autorisés à l'avant - comme il passait
Les tests médicaux d'aptitude, il a quitté son travail de secours
Dans les mains de femmes capables, pour sa formation.

Juillet 1915, l'avait trouvée sur ligne de front pour aider
L'offensive du mois de septembre, pour devenir caporal -
En Octobre étant décoré, lui surpris -
Seulement à cause de son âge - avoir rien fait.

La réticence de Surrugue était de savoir comment les autres
Ont fait plus que lui, donc il partit pour gagner Croix de Guerre.
Surrugue croyait le seul avantage de l'âge
Était d'informer les jeunes de 1870 épreuves.

Quand le temps est venu pour finalement officiers de quitter,
Surrugue demandé comment il avait l'air? La raison,
Pendant trois mois, il avait pas regardé dans un verre -
Un officier a dit Surrugue comment il avait l'air en forme.

Une dernière question était: où étaient les carrières?
Surrugue souligné trous, appelés carrières,
Où les pierres ont été extraites - qui avait l'air
Comme les trous d'obus - rien dans la guerre était bizarre.

Avec leur excursion terminé, les officiers
Gauche Surrugue en paix au travail - à réitérer
Comment rien ne devrait être une surprise, même pour
Trouver un caporal de 76 dans une carrière inexistante.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon., 1915. Un ancien combattant de 76 - L'histoire de Sapeur Surrugue. Le Daily Telegraph, [en ligne] 28 Décembre. P.10. Col.2. Disponible à: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12064942/Daily-Telegraph-December-28-1915.html [Consulté le 30 Décembre 2015].

Mann, J., 2015. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 30 December 2015). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12064942/Daily-Telegraph-December-28-1915.html

http://worldwaroneblogger.blogspot.co.uk/

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Poem ~ Defiant Truces - Wednesday, 29 December 1915

Impression sketch of Private Robert Keating.jpg [online] Soldier who experienced ceasfire on Christmas day 1915. See an original image at: <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-35120354> Accessed: 29 December 2015].

Twelve months had passed to find

Situations had little changed -

Stagnant land daily wavered, as

Deeper trench lines lay battered,

Over the same held, dirty ground.

Christmas once again, where

Twelve months before a truce

Had occurred - as some legend,

Where Allies and Germans laid

Down weapons for handshakes.

Over four prior seasons marking

The calendar, attempts had been

Made to hold truces - with Easter

An attempted German truce flag,

Was warned away by the British.

The Christmas of 1915 was to be

Free of a repeat of 1914 - in place

To harass the enemy with all units

Ordered to make raids on the lines,

With artillery halting fraternizations.

Twelve months gone and systems

Of new warfare had seen gas used -

While air warfare had developed -

Yet still many men sought relief to

Meet and mark the peak of advent.

Despite warnings of disobedience,

Truce acts were a fact - as a diary

Record of Private Robert Keating,

Told how after breakfast, greetings

Were called out to the other side.

In the cold still air they shouted

'Come over!' as Germans called

Out the same - Private Keating

And others stood to see enemy

Walking above their parapets.

On impulse some jocks ran out -

Despite officers shouting orders

'Come back!' Keating and others

Ignored the words and went on

To meet with German reserves.

In a standing crowd, two sides

Talked on subject of old England;

One German, born in Northampton,

Fed up longed to time to return -

Feeling war would surely end soon.

In tradition of gifts, they swapped

Items, when artillery began to fire -

The reaction being to run in hurried

Acts - some caught in barbed wire,

In belief snipers would start to fire.

Despite shells sent over to German

Side there was no sudden danger -

A German officer said they would not

Fire for two days, if the same happened

On allied side; and no shots were fired.

Only on Sunday did fire commence

When the Irish Guard relieved them.

Elsewhere an isolated cease-fire was

Marked, as a rush of both sides meet

To hurriedly swap ready souvenirs.

Their officers gave orders to cease

Fraternity and a promised match

Of football did not happen - a brigade

Commander made threats against

Lack of discipline, as fire resumed.

In one other section a Scots Guards

Commander, Sir Ian Colquhoun held

Under court martial, for defiance

Of raising truce - found guilty a final

Punishment was annulled by Haig.

This likely reason being Colquhoun's

Relation to Prime Minister Asquith -

While in seeking suppression of facts,

The truth had been that Christmas

Truce's happened that day, if only briefly.

by Jamie Mann.

Source: File: Christmas truce. Online Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_truce> Accessed 29 December 2015

Source: File: 1915 WW1 diary gives account of second Christmas truce. By Nick Bourne. 26 December 2015. Available Online at: <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-35120354> Accessed 29 December 2015

Source: File: The forgotten Christmas truce the British tried to suppress. Available Online at: <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-one/12058701/The-forgotten-Christmas-truce-the-British-tried-to-suppress.html> Accessed 29 December 2015

Mann, J., 2015. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 29 December 2015). 

http://worldwaroneblogger.blogspot.co.uk/

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Poem ~ Truth of War Stories - Tuesday, 28 December 1915

Impression sketch of Sniper's Duel.

In a release by High Commissioner

For Australia, spoke the official agent

Of the Press, Captain Bean, on war

Stories - to tell many were incomplete.

As stories are want for completion

To reach an end - as when regiments

Of opposition met in a wood, to shoot

Each other down until the last man.

These tales begin with elements

Of truth, but weaved by ornament

When untangled by threads of gilt -

The truth is lacking in all effects.

At times stories are only given in half,

As when the German officer, seen

By an Anzac ambulance man, to then

Pull out a gun and shoot him down.

Hence a story left in the air, lacked

What followed, that every Anzac close

By aimed a rifle to end the German;

Such stories miss out the final outcome.

Early In Gallipoli campaign a stretcher

Bearer to treat a Turkish soldier, used

His a knife to cut clothing about a wound -

That Turk grabbed the knife to stab him.

His belief was that he was about to be

Eviscerated - his reaction being to fight

Back - the obvious reaction was calmed

By the bearer, to complete the dressing.

Captain Bean had learnt the truth

From the ambulance crew - how the

Bearer, barely hurt, had became source

Of the embellished tuppenny version.

To relate a story two months before -

In October a battalion captain, known

To Captain Bean, came across a man

Shooting, standing above the parapet.

Head and shoulders in view, the Anzac

Fired at something - the Captain told

Him not to be a fool and to stand down -

The second he went, the man stood again.

The truth was the Anzac was in a duel

With a Turk - to have a shot at the other -

Who then took a return aim - what way

Of signalling to do game, was unknown.

In the undertaking, men of the section

On both sides observed with periscopes

And loopholes, as duellists continued

The Turk's shot grazed the Anzac's ear.

Close observation to game's rules held,

Until the Australian fell, hit in temple -

In fact that bullet came from another

Source - unaware of any agreed duel.

The idea of recklessness in any war

Situation, could only be a positive trait -

As in trench and ravines night fighting;

Which had taken place at Saris Bair.

Captain Bean learned that on 7 August

At Dawn a Light Horse Brigade charged

Turkish position - as the Light Horsemen

Made it, the remainder fell to their knees.

A conversation with one wounded man,

An officer, told how first line left the trench -

With the men they waited for two minutes;

The first line crumbled ahead at 10 yards.

A third line was all too aware - the second

Line lifted, to reach a little further than first -

He fell to wait for the third to piggyback -

And man rushed past, right for the Turk line.

The third line did not seem so lucky as

The others - he was alone and nothing

Moved close by - bullets spat up dust -

The earth about blurred in shrapnel haze.

From somewhere a man edged close

To ask what to do? 'Rush or jump?'

'Get back anyway you can,' he said;

The officer lay, a bullet lodged in his foot.

With head towards enemy, he shuffled

Himself backwards - a pull came upon

His sleeve; a dead man's bayonet held

Him with a tug, the sleeve stopped fast.

The officer, forced to move forward into

Snapping bullets to pull free - then again

Backwards till his feet hit space, where

He fell into a sap, finally reaching safety.

One brigadier was on duty about lines,

When he came across a well-built man -

To take a second look, gave him orders

To remove his cap - to be questioned.

How old was he? - The reply being 45

Was challenged, to admit to being 60.

Asked why he was there, the fellow
Told of his sons, both killed at the start.

Such are the reckless risks that many 
Men make, to form a force's backbone. 

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1915. Epic of Anzac - Some War Stories - Australian Recklessness. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 24 December. P.5. Col.2. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12064917/Daily-Telegraph-December-24-1915.html [Accessed: 28 December 2015].

Mann, J., 2015. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 28 December 2015). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12064917/Daily-Telegraph-December-24-1915.html

http://worldwaroneblogger.blogspot.co.uk/

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Poem ~ Ploegsteert Violets: For Vera - Thursday, 23 December 1915 - Monday, 27 December 1915

Impression sketch of Lieutenant Roland Leighton. [online] see an original image at: <http://warpoets.org.uk/worldwar1/poets-and-poetry/roland-leighton/> Accessed: 22 December 2015].

i

'Vera Loves Roland' - such words

As those that might be cut by lovers

Onto a tree - always as a promise,

Done between two loves - to return

As time over years to stay forever,

Despite a slow covering of moss.

As when one unforgettable year

Unfolded, mulled over with worry

And hope, as did for many - among

Them a young lady of Buxton,

Vera Brittain; from a middle class

Fortune - a writer and feminist.

A year of snatched, shared time -

Of moments that unfolded from

Winter, to meet Roland Leighton;

Amid train stations that became

Terminals of joyful reunions -

Unbalanced by sad departures.

While time apart goes ever slower

Time together unfolds much faster-

With arrival of each letter to hold close

That Roland had written - as Vera

Opened an amethyst brooch of amity,
That transfers all light between lovers.

With gifts exchange in simplicity -

For a fountain pen that his hand

Might hold, that traces with each

Curve of his fingers, to make words

That he might write just for her;

A veil that drew over all anxieties.

Separations are never easy - then

Letters finally arrive to tell a soldier's

Life only five miles from a firing line -

In spring's blooms of flowing letters

Written honestly, to tell how a bullet

Past Roland's head while he shaved.

ii

With dull green enveloped letters,

Sworn by the writer in censors trust -

That no secrets held within except

For family and private matters -

Each one received like a light beam

Over sick seconds, to think him lost.

Within the maze of war arrives

Blaze of summer days, as officers

Escape - behind but close to lines -

Ploegsteert in June when Roland

Stood, to hear waking of every bird

Of the world, call in the early light.

His unconscious breath drying

Each line, as he tells how he has

A farm to himself where a family

Stay - indifferent to shells - the wife

Sending his servant with bowls

Of milk in which to bathe, perhaps.

At odds in reality of young men

Who bury young men - Roland

Stood amid the crowd of youth

In one simple, hurried burial

Of a lance corporal, who died from

Wounds, never to receive his DCM.

Slowly Vera unfolded each letter

Roland had once folded - to touch

The place he hurriedly touched -

She unsealed paper, his mouth

Had once sealed - his male fragility

Carefully unlocked by her solidity.

Each word Vera held, devoured

Every line - almost to feel that

She was there - beside him at

Night, in the quiet with Germans

Mending wires - There to tread

Alongside him over grassy lands.

Where grass concealed the dead;

Unburied bodies of their enemy.

Interrupted by those intervals

Of normality - to long for pictures,

Where he might sit, to see views

Of distant hills or close cornfields.

Vera always in nursing distractions;

Ever in the company of waiting.

iii

Minutes into hours, into months,

Marked out by endless letters

Back and forth on wary nerves -

When Vera learned of potential

Leave, as Roland told of facts

Of trench mud, rain and fleas.

Never again to feel clean or dry -

Then suddenly the news Vera

Heard how Roland was on his way

Home - inadequate words of joy

To arrive St Pancreas - wary, Vera

Detects a figure of familiarity.

Face to face, Vera and Roland

Shook hands to stand apart,

Stare, bemused and reserved.

Eventually another train carriage

Conveyed them amid company;

Eventually left alone to travel.

Dimly, swiftly travelling through

The dark, Vera almost afraid

To ask why he smiled - Roland

Confessed to an idea to make

Everything right - to be engaged

All mixed emotions filled Vera.

Not quite the romantic action

To accept, but then question

All motives, to know if that was

The right thing to do - if he still

Wanted her - just ‘alright,’ built

An odd tension through the air.

As with a journey of two souls

That knows but cant quite see,

Or understand - time together

Played its role as when her lover

Revealed a poem of Plug-street

Violets to reflect Roland's depths.

iV

Left alone together in darkness

Above cliffs, two would embrace

And kiss to send shudders of lips.

Rare love breaks its resistance,

As all too soon St Pancreas calls

Him away, amid intrusive crowds.

In suppressed despair as Roland

Stooped to pervade a passionate

Kiss, as Vera paused on carriage

Step that might carry her with him.

A whistle is blown - he cannot look

Back, pale and fixed - light dimmed.

Renewed letters, brief or long, filled

Days through September's haze -

To agonize over days with no news.

Grasping moments to hold onto -

That unreadable Roland face in day

Or night duty, hindered empty hours.

Deeper into days of December when

Smallest notes of Roland's declared

Leave; to see him home for Christmas

Burned in Vera a thrill of turmoil, wary

How leave might also be cancelled;

Joy curtailed by cautioned reality.

V

All can change in a day, without any

True reasons - when rumours state

A pending push on the western front

May cancel all leave - but halted by

A lover's note of promise to be home;

The hours tick along to Christmas eve.

Holding stillness in any one moment,

Roland no doubt held onto a vision

Of Vera, ready before a mirror - silent

In preparations of Christmas dinner.

To comb her hair; a beauty in a dress

As he fulfilled his last night of duty.

Above the trench, a single moon hung

Bright - as some officer given Leighton

Orders to repair the broken wire, before

The trench - Lieutenant Roland Leighton

Climbed, crawled forwards; the pale light

Of one moon's glow across no mans land.

A noise or movement caught by keen

Eye and one sniper's bullet sang out -

Pulled back to safety, the injured man

Told how his stomach had been hit -

And it was bad. Lieutenant Leighton

Was hurried to Louvencourt hospital.

In Vera's expectations of his landing

On English soil of Christmas day,

No word came - with likely problems

In delays and difficulties, young Vera

Paused to look across a grey sea,

With slow dreams to see his face.

A morning message, 27 December

Finally came in expectation to hear

His voice - but another's tone told

How a telegram had been received;

In regret that Lieutenant Leighton

Had suffered wounds 23 December,

From which he died - with sympathy.

27 December, a morning telephone

Call came - in expectation to hear his

Voice - but another's tone told Vera

How a telegram had been received;

In regret that Lieutenant Leighton

Had suffered wounds 23 December,

From which he died - with sympathy.

Suddenly light can dull every day,

And every day comes darkest grey.

by Jamie Mann.

Bishop, A., 1981. Chronicle of Youth - Vera Brittain's War Diary 1913-1917. Victor Gollancz Limited.  1914

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