Impression
sketch of Zouave's mongrel dog -
by Jamie
Situated in the
Ile e France and the eastern
Suburbs of Paris,
lay Nogent Sur Marne,
Close to the
commune Maison Blanche -
A quiet name for
an asylum house.
With peace gone
by 1914, all these
Inmates were
relocated to Brittainy -
For Maison
Blanche to take a new role
In the recovery
of disabled French soldiers.
The number of 750
men became residents,
Whose recovery
involved expeditions,
In friends motor
cars to Paris centre -
Only 10
kilometres away - lost limbs,
Did not stop
their cheerfulness.
As they could be
seen in the Paris
Streets as
something ‘pathetic’ - yet
They prove their
resilient to conditions.
Within Maison
Blanche, those soldiers
That were, worked
in a workshop
And learned to
adapt in trades.
A man who had
lost both legs,
Along with his
right and left
Hands, except the
thumb, learned
To hold a brush
between the stump
And thumb in
order to paint pottery.
By this method he
began to earn a
A small income -
while another
Man, having been
a sculptor
Stonemason, used
plaster,
In making models
with his left
Hand he worked with
comrades
To number four -
all with both arms
To produce work
in making 10f a day.
Another resident
of the Maison Blanche
Was a mongrel dog,
who lived there
With his disabled
master, a Zouave
Who had been in
light infantry.
Coming from
Algeria, at wars
Start, he
insisted on taking his
Dog with him to
the French front -
Both lived
together in the trenches.
The Zouave, in
rank of sergeant, one
Night went on a
reconnaissance
Mission, with six
other men -
Close to a heavy
explosion,
The seven men
became buried
Beneath a mass of
earth - by some
Sense in missing
his master, the dog
Left the trenches
to seek this Zouave.
In realisation
his master was in danger,
The mongrel found
the place where
Where they were
buried and began
To dig - until he
found his master.
Seeing the
shrapnel wound on
His leg, the dog
instinctively began
To lick this –
which the surgeons later
Said had
prevented onset of gangrene.
Popular with all the
soldiers, this dog
Proved a good
poacher, in catching
Hares – close by,
some stretcher
Bearers heard his
dog barking,
With howling
yelps – to believe
That he had
caught another hare.
So that these men
went out to find
The dog guarding
the Zouave and men.
The party brought
back all wounded
Soldiers to
safety - The injured
Zouave taken to a
hospital
To have a leg
amputated.
Distraught for
the company
Of his companion,
the Zouave
Insisted his dog
was brought to
Him, or that he
would let himself die.
With the
operation done the dog
Slept on his bed,
then together
They lived at
Maison Blanche
The Zouave with
one leg.
Described as a
curious looking
Animal, the
Zouave told that there
Was in him a breed
of a pointer, along
A fox terrier and
another mystery strain.
The mongrel dog
of Maison Blanche, wore
A silver collar
and medal, presented by
The Blue Cross - with
intelligent eyes
He was a heroic
mongrel amid men.
by Jamie Mann.
Anon.,1915. The
Zouave's Dog. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 29 October. P.11. Col.4. Available at:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11955418/Daily-Telegraph-October-29-1915.html
[Accessed: 31 October 2015].
Mann, J., 2015. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal
communication, 31 October 2015).
#WW1 #WW1centenary #GreatWar #WW1poem #GreatWar #WW1centenary
#worldwarone #worldwaroneremembered #WW1Paris
