Poem ~ The Muddy Affairs of Cuinchy - Friday, 29 January 1915

Source: File: Map Neuve Chapelle to La Bassee, 1915.jpg, 2015. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [online] Available at: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_La_Bassée#mediaviewer/File:Neuve_Chapelle_to_La_Bassee,_1915.jpg> [Accessed: 29 January 2015].

Source: File: Map of British Line, 1915.jpg, 2015. George's War Letters. The First World War seen through the letters of George Power- 25th January 1915. [online] Available at: <http://firstwarlettersofgeorge.com/2015/01/25/gwl-25th-january-1915/George's War Letters> [Accessed: 29 January 2015].

Between La Bassée and Givenchy,

The land where a battle was underway,

Was on a sea of mud - the first largest

Engagement believed to be of 1915.

Two months of down pouring rain,

Had turned the ground into slough

Of complete despondency – a trough

Of practically impossible movement.

With only La Bassée – Bethune Road

Allowing any kind of solid ground,

The Germans dashed across the

Divide - moving quickly and with force

Towards unsupported British trenches,

Forcing those who manned the line,

To fall back faced with enemy rush.

Assisted by 7^th pioneer detachments,

The lead of the attack had been given

To the 56 Prussian Infantry regiment -

Rhine-Landers, who of good humour

Had in peace been stationed at fortress

Of Wesel - by some prisoner’s words,

The fighting had made its toll on the 56^th.

With trenches to the right evacuated,

The British on the left now observed

Men falling back - as the Germans

Took the adjacent trenches - to avoid

Being driven out, they too fell back -

The Germans had made all their gains.

The German spirit carried their soldiers,

Along the road to Givenchy, to occupy

A trench - to capture six British soldiers.

They moved on into the town - a strong

Company of 56^th with twenty men from

7^th Pioneers, with a lead of three officers.

Their support was made to hurry along

After them - being 5000 reservists, their

Task to secure ground rapidly covered.

Yet they had not bargained on every

Factor -13:00 hours a British regiment,

Had the order to retake lost trenches.

Ahead of them, was a morass of 300

Yards to objective – a trench – under

Great fire, they moved to be knee deep

In mud and water – an impossibility

To keep a line -Then they laid down,

Dodging bullets, to wait for followers

To free selves of the bog, to join them.

In this method of attack, the Germans

Were puzzled. Climbing from cover with

Bayonets to see men lying on the mud.

The enemy leapt back to cover - their

Anticipation of a new British method.

The result of the British counter attack

Was to retake the trench - to hold it

With a cost of many men falling – but

The advance of the Germans across

The Bethune Road, had failed for them.

With 400 men left on the road, the 56th

Prussian regiment was driven back. 

Reserves unable to get to their rescue.

British and French Infantry, attended

To those invaders that had made it to

Givenchy - gaining many prisoners

With wounds to head and upper body.

The Germans advanced into the town,

Only to encounter front facing British fire.

With an ineffective stand, they fell back

To the trench they had occupied, outside

The town - the British now in the houses, 

Fired from all the ground floor windows.

Under exposure, the German wounded

Fell - hopelessly trying to hold the trench -

Waiting for support, but the British fired

Down on them, to make the trench defence

Untenable - with only one officer of three

Left, he gave up with the remainder of men.

Later at the base hospital, on a small ward,

Three men wounded in the fight, lay side

By side. In the centre a corporal of the 56^th 

Prussian, either side of him an Irish soldier  -

One of them in recognition of the Corporal. 

During the day's fighting, the Irishman

Had marked the corporal out with others -

Sniping at the British from a tree clump

On the La Bassée Road - in giving warning

The Corporal was wounded and captured.

On arrival at the hospital, he spoke in good

English - to completely forget the language,

During the night - unable to answer questions.

The fact being that the Prussian and Irishman

Recognised each other from the battlefield.

The Irishman knew that the German knew,

He knew him, to be an efficient clever sniper -

So he told his story to visitors, quite aware

The German pretended to be asleep - yet he

Listens. The corporal replied to questions

From hospital staff, asking how he is -'Nein'

He replies, wary of what happens to snipers.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1915. The Fighting at La Bassée - British Heroism - Ingenious Manoeuvring. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 29 Jan. P.9. Col.4. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11372880/Daily-Telegraph-January-29-1915.html [Accessed: 29 January 2015].

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

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11372880/Daily-Telegraph-January-29-1915.html

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