Impression sketch
of French Soldiers
moving out towards mound of earth - by Jamie.
In the
hostilities over lands of 1916,
Each lump of
earth was fought for -
Each inch, each
foot, every yard
Became a
challenge to hold onto.
Between each
system of trench
And earthworks,
churned ground
Lost or won, over
and over again;
Becomes a 'give and
take' situation.
For this the
fearless enterprises
Of the French
solider was priceless
Any taken land
they seek to regain;
The poilu never conceived
as 'down.'
Within the valley
of the Aisne,
On the edge of
that named water
Way, was a
hummock of earth
Between French
and German posts.
With a decision
to gain the mound
Of earth, left a non-commissioned
Officer with
fifteen poilu, to move
In silent
progress from the trenches.
Outward they
crawled across
Filth of earth or
tangles of wire,
And to wade the
river to reach
Their aim - the
top of that mound.
In the silent
night of darkness,
They dug
themselves trenches
And a sturdy
dugout - where
They stayed for
forty-eight hours.
On the hummock's
exposed
Situation, their
expectation
For enemy shells
to target,
Took a strain on
their nerves.
When expected time
arrived;
8in German
battery began
In burst of
shells - the French
Took shelter in
their dugout.
Hiss and crash - hiss
and crash -
The earth about
their bodies
Shook them to the
core - almost
To fall on them
when fire ceased.
The air likely
rang in silence,
As the shaken
French emerged,
And looked
towards the enemy,
Then to see forty
German men.
An enemy thought
the French
Had been blasted
away - to set
To repair the
first French trench,
Taken for their
own purposes.
Once repaired the
forty figures
Moved towards the
next line -
The French dived
back into
The dugout and
kept a silence.
Just feet away
from the French
The Germans
looked about
To believe not
one was left -
Without bother to
check dugout.
The entrance
might only allow
One at a time to
edge through -
But broken earth
suggested how
Shells had driven
French away.
From that precarious, surrounded
position in a possible collapsing
position in a possible collapsing
dugout, one voluntary corporal
Set out to inform French troops.
The bravery of
that corporal,
Saw him crawl
away across
The ground,
sliding into water
Within close
enemy proximity.
Wading the river
the Corporal
Reached the
Commanding Officer,
Who took the
message but said
They could give no
reinforcements.
'They must do as
you have done,'
Were the reported
words - thus
The Corporal
returned to them
Who anxiously waited
for word.
Without debate
they complied -
So at two-minute
intervals each,
The sixteen
slipped by German
Positions and
then across river.
When at the point
of the last
Man making it
back to the line,
Did the Germans
realise their
Presence to fire
- only too late.
by Jamie Mann.
Anon.,1916. Trench
Warfare - Frenchmen's Exploit - Thrilling Adventure. The Daily Telegraph,
[online] 11 January 1916.
P.5. Col.4. Available at:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12085369/Daily-Telegraph-January-11-1916.html
[Accessed: 11 January 2016].
Mann, J., 2016. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal
communication, 11 January 2016).
#WW1 #WW1centenary #GreatWar #WW1poem #GreatWar #WW1centenary
#worldwarone #worldwaroneremembered #WW1French
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