Poem ~ A Song of Trauma - Saturday 20 November 1915

Video of song sung by Sergeant Wells.

During Canadian actions in Flanders,

A wounded Sergeant Wells, lay on

The battlefield - captured then taken

To a German field dressing station.

Sergeant Wells felt himself fortunate,

To meet there a considerate young

Officer - the German told the sergeant
Of his belief; Canadians were brave.

Thanking him Sergeant Wells was

Moved - under this young officer's

Order, to be escorted away from gas,

In an ambulance to a place of safety.

Uses of gas for this German, had

No place in warfare, feeling secure

The sergeant's fate changed, once

Out of sight the ambulance stopped.

Ordered out, his escorts prodded

Him with bayonets - to tell Wells

'Walk you Canadian pig,' which

He did - finally he reached Roulers.

The wound on his arm being very

Bad, it was decided to amputate -

With his heart weakened by gas,
He could not be given chloroform.

The Doctor took up a saw - beside

Him a Belgian nun held his hand,

To distract him as the cut was made.

She asked him what he might sing.

The little nun suggested 'God be

With you till we meet again.'

So Sergeant Wells sang out the

Hymn loudly, from chorus to verse.

Then again, until the job was done.

Time came with prisoner exchange, 

Of men no longer of use as soldiers;

In 4 months to leave Saxony camp.

A report came from Central news,

Montreal, to tell how Sergeant Wells

Had arrived in Vancouver, where

he spoke about the nun's journey.

Based in, the Danish West Indies

Then onwards to New York, this

Small nun wrote to his mother,
Telling of her son's sung survival.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1915. Plucky Canadian - Sings During Amputation. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 20 November. P.6. Col.3. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11994444/Daily-Telegraph-November-20-1915.html [Accessed: 20 November 2015].

Mann, J., 2015. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 20 November 2015). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11994444/Daily-Telegraph-November-20-1915.html

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Lyrics of 'God Be With You Till We Meet Again.' By Jeremiah E. Rankin, 1880

1. 1. God be with you till we meet again;

By his counsels guide, uphold you;

With his sheep securely fold you.

God be with you till we meet again.

2. (Chorus)

Till we meet, till we meet,

Till we meet at Jesus' feet,

Till we meet, till we meet,

God be with you till we meet again.

3. 2. God be with you till we meet again;

When life's perils thick confound you,

Put his arms unfailing round you.

God be with you till we meet again.

4. 3. God be with you till we meet again;

Keep love's banner floating o'er you;

Smite death's threat'ning wave before you.

God be with you till we meet again.