Impression
sketch of 'Sergeant Dandy' coming home - by Jamie.
A case of a man,
believed
Not to be, the man he
said
He was, had been arrested
To appear at Police
Court,
Manchester -
Described as a man
with
An appearance of a
soldier -
Being well built - he
stated
Himself as being
Sergeant
Herbert Dandy -
No 1752 of 1.8th Battalion.
Arrested under
suspicion
He underwent questioning
By Police - only to reiterate
He was Herbert Dandy.
The court was to hear facts
From Inspector Thomas,
Of Sergeant Dandy -
who
Had taken a frontline
post
With his regiment -
Had been posted to frontline
Of Dardanelles, back in
early
June - during one
certain
Engagement, the sergeant
Went missing -
Over a month later, on
date
Of 26 July, Mrs Dandy
was
At home to answer
knock
At the door - ‘Who are
you?’
Mrs Dandy asked -
'Herbert, your
husband' - with
An embrace, the man
then
Settled into the home,
when
Over some days neighbour's
Suspicion's grew -
As gossip spread, Mrs
Dandy
Sent this Mr Dandy to
stay
In Marston, her sister's
home;
Mrs Dandy had accepted
him
To be her husband.
Strangely, Mrs Dandy could
Not completely confirm
who
He was - while he
met with
All sides of the
family, who
Had accepted him -
'Mr Dandy' knew of
details
About the
relatives - even
Those who knew him
from
School, were unaware of
Any dissimilarity -
After his arrest, a test
was
Made, when he faced five
Wounded men, back from
From Dardanelles - whom
He had fought with -
This Sergeant Dandy
stood
Before them, but could
not
Provide any correct names
-
Among the men was
also
A fellow sergeant -
While he said man's name,
He failed to know him
by
A Sergeant's rank –
these
Five were satisfied, he was
Not Sergeant Dandy.
Court comments included
Mr Armatiage, Chairman,
To say in surprise, how
Mrs Dandy was not
certain
If he was her husband
-
The
accused man, when
Asked, said he had
nothing
To add – while no
object
To remand, asked for
bail;
But was refused.
Mr Armatiage decidedly
Stated that he would
Not be freed, until
they
Knew exactly who this
'Mr Dandy' was -
The arresting
inspector
Advised, army
authority
Would further
investigate
This Sergeant Dandy;
the
Trial would continue.
by Jamie Mann.
Anon.,1915 Alleged Bogus Husband. The
Daily Telegraph, [online] 12 August. P.4. Col.4. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11788165/Daily-Telegraph-August-12-1915.html
[Accessed: 12 August 2015].
Mann, J., 2015. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal
communication, 12 August 2015).
#WW1 #WW1centenary #GreatWar #WW1poem #GreatWar #WW1centenary
#worldwarone #worldwaroneremembered #WW1Homefront
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