Poem ~ Soldier of 14 Commits Fraud - Tuesday, 26 January 1915

C Company of the 6^th Cyclist Battalion,

Royal Sussex Regiment had in its

Company, a Private Arthur Whale -

Described as being aged seventeen.

Stationed at the regimental depot,

Private Whale intercepted a postal

Communication that was addressed

To an officer, Lieutenant Tennent.

Contained within the postal letter,

Was a draft for the officer, of £390.

Private Whale then forwarded this,

To London City and Midland Bank.

The document instructed, how monies

Were to then be credited to Lieutenant

Tennent - along with £91 to be sent

To the officer at his headquarters.

The bank manager, with suspicions

Raised over the signature, organised

A messenger to the regimental depot –

Having expected the draft, Lieutenant

Tennent had never received the letter.

By authority, some letters were posted

As a ploy, for the Lieutenant's attention.

It was discovered that Whale intercepted

These - with result of his being arrested.

The appearance of the private suggested

That he was aged about 18 - it was then

Found that Private Whale was still only

14 - the evidence proved how he forged

A document, to gain a fraudulent £91.

The private then broke down in the dock,

In regret for his actions - he had enlisted

To go to the front, so as to join his father,

Currently serving in fighting the enemy.

Stated by police as having an indifferent

Character, Lieutenant Tennent added,

He should be discharged from regiment,

As he proved himself to be a slacker.

The order of Hove’s magistrate’s court

Was Private Whale would, until aged 19,

Be detained in reformatory – possibly

Given future service on a sailing ship.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1915. Dishonest Slacker. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 26 Jan. P.6. Col.4. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11362846/Daily-Telegraph-January-26-1915.html [Accessed: 26 January 2015].

Mann, J., 2015. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 26 January 2015). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11362846/Daily-Telegraph-January-26-1915.html

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