Impression
Sketch of aerial
bombing technique - By Jamie
Mann. An original images can be seen at:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Russian-Scout-German-Torture-Panasuk/dp/B000S8DL5A
Impression
Zahnradfabrik Friedrichshafen, G.m.b.H., 1915. (The
Cog-wheel and Gear Works). Friedrichshafen
and Lake Constance in the background - By Jamie Mann. An original images can be
seen at: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/32570/32570-h/32570-h.htm
The sister of Sydney Sippie, an aviator,
Wrote to tell her New Zealand friend,
Living in Wellington, about her brother's
Exploits, over the frontline of France.
Proudly speaking of young Sydney,
Who one bitterly cold morning, some
Weeks before - had set off on a flight
With avaitors Briggs and Babbington.
In temperatures under ten degrees
Below zero, the flight commanders
Took to the skies at ten in the morning.
Determinedly to head for enemy target.
On reaching Friedrichshafen, under
Enemy fire of eight machine guns,
Sydney could see nothing of Briggs;
The air filled with shrapnel bullets.
With the target spotted below, of gas
And other industrial sites, Sydney
Sippie dropped his flight to release
His bombs over enemy buildings.
Coming into view beside him, waved
Commander Babbington - yet still
No sign of Briggs - having dropped
His load, Sydney Sipper started bac.k
Commander Sipper's tactic was
To volplane down to a nearby lake,
To rise again, under cover of mists,
His intentions worked to fool enemy.
A German report stated he crashed
Into the lake - Sydney flew across
Mountains over 260 miles, to arrive
On the same spot, all in 3 hours 50.
Despite some slight written confusion
In the narrative, Commander Briggs
Was heard to have been captured,
Having been shot down in early stages.
The sister of Sydney Sipper was glad
It was not him - after a shock to hear
One captured and one shot down, came
To receive relief in a wire from Sydney.
In carrying on accoun,t Sydney’s sister
Tells how both flyers were, the next day,
Decorated with the Legion of Honour -
Before the complete garrison at Belfort.
Little more than boys with Sydney 25
And Babbington, younger than him,
The band played and flags were flying
As the garrison marched with salutes.
After a whole days to celebrate, boys
Were then given an elaborate dinner -
In presence of staff officers, colonels
And generals being presented to them.
Their menus of the meal were signed
By them, with some well known names
Among them - The sister of Sydney
Concludes on a more sombre note.
Her brother had been at Antwerp during
The bombardment - amid the last to leave
They crossed the pontoon bridge, shielding
Their faces from the oil burning on water.
by Jamie Mann.
Anon.,1915. A Daring Young Airman. The New Zealand Freelance, [online] 23 Apr. P.23. Col.1-2. Available at:
http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=NZFL19150423.2.37&e=-------10--1----0--[Accessed:
23 April 2015].
Mann, J., 2015. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal
communication, 23 April 2015).
http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=NZFL19150423.1.23&e=-------10--1----0--
#WW1 #WW1centenary #GreatWar #WW1poem #GreatWar #WW1centenary
#worldwarone #worldwaroneremembered #WW1New Zealand
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