i
With a maritime
history and position,
The port of Dover
had always been
Central to
England’s defences - across
Time and wars, to look across the sea.
Seated at an
extreme position at foot
Of south East
England, where land
Once linked to an
ancient world - long
Fallen to sea, forming
a lone island.
There, where
white cliffs formed Albion
In the county of
Kent, channel waters
Made a natural
defence to ambitious
Invaders - making Dover a prime target.
A prime port as link for Empires troops
In embarkation
and arrivals, to be where
First bomb of 1914
fell on English soil;
Close to Dover
castle, Christmas Eve.
A dirty white
wall of chalky earth defiantly
Stood, formed a bright landmark guide
To hunters of new
warfare, from winged
Crafts and the
deadly zeppelin types.
ii
19 March 1916,
being any normal day
saw strategy of a
German bombing raid,
As life for the
ordinary folk unraveled
In the light of a
Sunday, given to rest.
Above a blue Dover
sky buzzed aircraft
Tracing the chalk
cliffs to find its target -
With Dover’s
military and naval presence,
A bomb was thrown
amid civilian houses.
Inside homes the sounds
of flying craft
Alerted helpers, who
carried a bedridden
Lady of 80, to safety of ground, as bricks
Lady of 80, to safety of ground, as bricks
And mortar shook - her bedroom blew up.
As an invader
swooped another bomb
Struck in destruction, killing a woman
Outright - the
force of the explosion
Injuring another
woman next door.
Elsewhere unaware of any imminent
Danger A young Edith
Stoker, out on
A free Sunday afternoon,
took to her
Bike, setting off towards to Folkestone.
iii
Edith Stokes
housemaid of Mrs Hart
Of Maison Dieu
Road cycled, to turn
Around a corner of
the main road,
To know soon she would see her love.
To know soon she would see her love.
Having left her
employer's house,
Edith rode onto
Folkstone Road -
Moving over the railway,
she moved
About a boy walking
in the street.
Startled both looked up at
the sudden
Screech - Edith
clasping handlebars,
As a bomb crashed to the tramlines
The blast lifted her from the cycle.
Flying sideways
across the road,
Edith struck the
door of 131 -
The stationer’s
shop of Mr Tarrant,
Where she lay in
the entrance.
One minute from
Folkstone Road,
Winchelsea Street
was home
To Francis Amos
Hall - he closed
The gate of
number 23 on his way.
iV
That day his
father, working as
A railway guard,
had left on London
Train - his
mother stayed home while
Francis walked to
Sunday School.
With a year to
his twelfth birthday,
Francis walked
along Folkestone
Road, he stopped
at sounds above;
A biplane swooped
across the town.
At 23 Winchelsea
Street, Mrs Hall
Heard the noise
of aircraft overhead,
With her son
outside, she rushed
To the road intending to find him.
Frances ran back
over the tramlines
As girl on a
cycle swerved round him -
Startled, Francis
heard a rushing noise,
A bomb was
falling - he turned to run.
Mrs Hall was
close to Folkestone road,
As she saw her
boy running towards
Her and home -
then came a flash as
An air bomb
struck, close to Francis.
V
Nearby a
gentleman ran over to help,
Where he saw the
distressed mother
of a fallen boy -
He knelt to see brief
Reactions in his
eyes, moving once.
The stranger felt
him slump but said
Nothing - nearby a
young woman was
Found injured in a shop
door, both
Driven to the hospital full of casualties.
Driven to the hospital full of casualties.
From her severe injuries Edith Stoker
Died aged 23 - a daughter of a Sergeant
Major Pensioner - born in Singapore,
Major Pensioner - born in Singapore,
Until Dover became the family home.
In finally
learning that her son had died,
Mrs Hall was comforted by staff, 'as best
They could' - on his return home Mr Hall
Found unwashed blood on his son's face.
Found unwashed blood on his son's face.
by Jamie Mann.
Anon.,1916. Blown
Across A Road. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 21 March 1916. P.9. Col.6. Available at:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12196087/Daily-Telegraph-March-21-1916.html
[Accessed: 21 March 2016].
Mann, J., 2016. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal
communication, 21 March 2016).
#WW1 #WW1centenary #WW1poem #GreatWar #WW1centenary #worldwarone
#worldwaroneremembered #WW1Dover
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