Impression sketch
of Sniper with good teeth
- by Jamie.
Somewhere along the trench
Border of France, a tale became
Told of an unusual sniper.
One Tommy told how their
Allied trench lay some 100 yards,
From nearest German trench.
Like many other regiments,
They had suffered shortages
Of regular, drinking water.
This Tommy stated that half
A mile directly behind their lines,
Lay a clear, shallow stream.
A regular practice involved
Soldiers, to leave safety of trench
At night, to gain water supplies
In this important mission,
Some eagle-eyed sniper, started
To interrupt the process.
In usual attempts at night,
Two Tommy’s were almost hit,
While two others wounded.
Strangely, the shots came
From a direction, somewhere
Behind the British lines.
Taking a day time search,
With intention to find the snipers
Lair - without any success.
With another attempt just
Before dawn, on 23 September,
Searched by soldiers.
They worked their way back
To the line, swiping at the ground,
Like beaters on a shoot.
Nothing was found, except
An old shabby farmer - who eagerly
Attended to potatoes crops.
Working on the furrows,
The angry old man scorned them,
Treading all over his ground.
While he ordered them away,
Some Tommy's, being able to speak
French, questioned him.
The old man’s expression
Was worried, knowing no ‘espion’
Or hearing any kind of noise.
The French farmer vowed
He would report them to their
senior,
If they did not get off his field.
The Subaltern, Mr Jones,
Reported to commanding officer,
To tell about the old farmer
He had 'gnashed his teeth'
Which were jolly fine and white -
The officer exclaimed.
The order was to go back
And speak to the old man - as two
Men take him from behind.
Ashamed and enlightened,
The Subaltern did as he was told -
The famer fought like a beast.
The three detainees forced
Him to the ground, rolling over and
Over, as the man resisted
Finally tied, they found him
To be a young man, with German
Made automatic pistols.
A search showed he carried
A rifle cartridge belt, another
search
Revealed the old famers lair.
In a ditch was a dugout,
With a rifle carefully hidden behind
A screen of brushwood.
by Jamie Mann.
Anon.,1915. Catching A Sniper Betrayed by
Nice Teeth. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 2 October. P.10. Col.2. Available at:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11902168/Daily-Telegraph-October-2-1915.html
[Accessed: 3 October 2015].
Mann, J., 2015. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal
communication, 3 October 2015).
#WW1 #WW1centenary #GreatWar #WW1poem #GreatWar #WW1centenary
#worldwarone #worldwaroneremembered #WW1Sniper
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