Poem ~ Russia: No Peace, No Revolution - Tuesday, 30 May 1916 - Wednesday, 31 May 1916

 

Source: File: Michail Rodzianko, president of the Duma, Imperial Russia, in 1914.. [online] See an original image at: <https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/Μιχαήλ_Ροντζιάνκο#/media/File:Mija%C3%ADlRodzianko1914f1.highres.jpeg> [Accessed: 30 May 2016]

The July crisis 24 months before, saw

Breakdown of diplomatic relations that

Led to Augusts’ declaration of war -

Not to forget how an assassination act

By a young Bosnian Serb had set sparks.

Ultimately the black finger of the Black

Hand had pulled a trigger, for first bullet

Of the First World War - ultimatums

Led to rise of mid European's marching

Armies in crossing lines of borders.

France, Austria, Russia and Prussia,

From 1870 had led European powers -

Equality over decades of diplomatic

Conflicts had created strain - Russia

Edged to war as her economy buckled.

With Russian investment greater

Than other countries, defense costs

Drained the people - despite Franco-

Russian Alliance, Germany remained

Most powerful state within Europe.

By biased communications of agenda

To legitimatise Russian war efforts

Was to show Germany's barbaric traits -

As allies opposed to triple alliance,

Russia feared a foothold of its border.

With the stack of cards tumbling,

The declaration of war across Europe,

Saw success of Russian invasion

Of East Prussia in opening conflicts -

Thus to establish the Eastern front.

22 months later came stout denial

Of any Peace party within Russia -

With America's involvement of hope

For peace, saw a press print Russia's

Reaction to such peace propaganda.

The Russian Duma assembly had

Heard words of their President -

Michail Rodzianko told interviewer

How the Russian Imperial Duma set

Out to convene about the outright lie.

An invitation was made to meet

And talk with Duma members -

German hegemony was well

Known to all Russian peasants,

Who were steadfast in idea of war.

Rodzianko told how they were

Prepared to fight even until 1936 -

The Kaiser had to accept terms -

German based peace might be

Acceptable to allies, but not Russia.

In regard to Russians continued

Readiness, Rodzianko told how

The army had doubled in size -

Better equipped and better fed;

Peace rumors had no substance.

An adamant Michail Rodzianko

Said how the peasant population

Were behind the leaders of their

Country - to bring down Germany -

Also to play down other rumors.

By conclusion, Rodzianko advised

That America should be informed

How, despite any predictions

On their part, there was no danger

Of Revolution occurring in Russia.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1916. German Peace Talk - Vigorous Russian Reply. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 30 May 1916. P.10. Col.6. Available at: <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12210266/Daily-Telegraph-May-30-1916.html>  [Accessed: 30 May 2016].

Source: File: Peace Initiatives. Online. Available at: <http://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/peace_initiatives> Accessed 30 May 2016

Source: File: Eastern Front (World War I). Online. Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Front_(World_War_I)> Accessed 30 May 2016

Mann, J., 2016. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal

communication, 30 May 2016). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12210266/Daily-Telegraph-May-30-1916.html

http://worldwaroneblogger.blogspot.co.uk/

#WW1 #WW1centenary #GreatWar #WW1poem #GreatWar #WW1centenary #worldwarone #worldwaroneremembered #WW1Russia

Poem ~ Douaumont: A Pivotal Fort - Saturday, 27 May 1916 - Monday, 29 May 1916

Source: File: Fort Douaumont in 1916. [online] See an original image at: <http://www.lesfrancaisaverdun-1916.fr/fortifications1024.htm> [Accessed: 19 May 2016]

i

In the approach to a 100 days

Of battle, the fighting still raged

About Verdun - from start

Of 21 February German intent

Was to break down the French.

A key to the city of Verdun’s

Defenses stood Fort Douaumont -

Built on the highest ground

And reinforced from start until

1913, this was a formidable fort.

Armaments had though been

Depleted by General Joffre's

Orders, in consideration

Of Germany's Belgium invasion -

That had swept aside such forts.

At the point of offensive action

In 1916, Douaumont was only

Manned by a few artillery

And 56 troops, without officers;

A depleted key Verdun defence.

ii

With pounding of large caliber

Guns, the crew retreated down

To lowest levels with weak

Defenses - 10 German engineers

Approached the deserted coffres.

Sergeant Kunze climbed inside

And opened a door - nine men

Refused entry, fearing a trap -

Sergeant Kunzel wandered alone

Through empty, echoing tunnels.

With only a rifle Kunze came

To the one artillery team, taking

Them prisoners as others

Of the Brandenburg troops came,

Assisting to secure the French fort.

Fort Douaumont located behind

German front, became a shelter

And base - the fort then

A place for German soldiers  -

Called 'Old Uncle Douaumont.'

iii

On 8 May 1916 a few German

Soldiers started to make coffee,

They used flamethrower

Fuel on a cooking fire - ignorant

Of flammable liquid being fatal.

Sudden bursting heat resulted

In detonation of nearby shells,

Grenades and stored fuel.

Within the flash firestorm, many

Soldiers died in brief seconds.

12th grenadier regimental men

Were instantly killed, while other

Men trying to escape -

Blackened from fire to be shot

Down, seen as French Africans.

The pitiful stance of each side

Still hammered away, with the

Hundredth day - hope

To regain Verdun had failed -

Germans pinned down French.

iV

With caution came one report

Breaking down of French

Was being achieved - along

With enemy wearing down

His own, in undecided outcome.

Advancement on Meuse's

Left bank, set on emplacements

Of French at Hauts de Meuse;

A line spanned Hill 304, Avocourt,

Dead Man's Hill and Cumieres.

As to how neutral a military

Critic might takes sides, came

A report by Colonel Feyler -

The Swiss officer toured line

To advise French loss was less.

Colonel Feyler as observer

Informed how French force

As defenders, with Germans

As assailants, to lead to latter

Losing 100,000 every month.

V

For French success were

Germans failures, as they

Had been driven backward -

As defenders kept ground,

Along with enemies errors.

From sources of secrecy,

Feyler noted efficiency

Of initial German units

Had been withdrawn, only

To be reformed into action.

After this second, equally

Effective gallant unit

Withdrew, to be reformed

For the third time,

Back in the Verdun front.

When on this occasion

These troops acted in

Refusal to leave trenches -

Sources told how many

Were court martiallied.

Vi

Changes in French leaders

Had seen Marshall Petain

Take command of French

Army group - General Nivelle

Took over 2nd French army.

The date of appointment

1 May 1916, when the fight

At Verdun led preparations

Up to 22 May 1916 - Nivelle

Gave General Mangin orders.

The plan was counter attack

On Fort Douaumont - with

Secrecy still maintained,

Included swift destruction

Of German sausage balloons.

Reported as a brilliant

Feat that began Monday

22 May 4.30 (a.m.?)

French trench divisions

Faced their German equals.

Vii

The lines of enemy faced

Out from Douaumont fort  -

In 15 minutes an initial French

Attack cut through to the

Second German line.

Although Germans repelled

Them twice, reinforcements

Brought in assistance - Fort

Douaumont was entered;

The fight was not yet done.

Enemy forces within the fort

Came close to encirclement -

Yet held onto north east

Corner, defending flank

Attacks of Thiaumont farm.

This came from southwest,

While from southeast, fire

Came by Caillette wood -

Over two days and nights

Were made German replies.

Viii

Infantry interspersed with

Artillery, with new Bavarian 

Divisions to push back

French at Thiaumont farm -

French fell back by Tuesday.

Within night, a few hundred

Yards gained were then lost;

So the French retreated

From the fort, although they

Had not had seen a fight.

Had the two circling units

Of Thiaumont farm and

Caillette wood held, then

Fort Douaumont would

Have likely been regained.

About southern positions

Of Douaumont, the French

Held positions - An outcome

Of Verdun was yet to see any
Success made, either way.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1916. Story of Douaumont. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 27 May 1916. P.9. Col.1. Available at: <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12210238/Daily-Telegraph-May-27-1916.html>  [Accessed: 27 May 2016].

Source: File: Fort Douaumont. Online. Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Douaumont> Accessed 27 May 2016

Mann, J., 2016. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal

communication, 27 May 2016). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12210238/Daily-Telegraph-May-27-1916.html

http://worldwaroneblogger.blogspot.co.uk/

#WW1 #WW1centenary #GreatWar #WW1poem #GreatWar #WW1centenary #worldwarone #worldwaroneremembered #WW1Verdun

Poem ~ Goading An Enemy - Friday, 26 May 1916

Source: File:  Photograph of 1/22nd Battalion London Regiment (The Queen’s), 1916. [online] See an original image at: <https://trinityremembers.wordpress.com/their-stories-3/> [Accessed: 26 May 2016]

Up to the day in August 1914,

Unrelated men had undertaken

Daily tasks in the city.

Bankers and stockbrokers

Annually, making thousands

Of pounds a year.

Others were men of Fleet Street,

Daily reporting news of empire

To outbreak of war.

One day that changed fortune

Saw such men take to route

To join a king's call.

Months of training turned these

Civilian men into eager soldiers

For a London regiment.

One innocuous day on the front,

A non-specific London regiment

Came under attack.

On this regiment's section was

A German decision to send some

50,000 shells

Over fifty minutes the bombarding

Bombs made a wreck of trenches

Wire, swept like 'chaff'.

The held line was starting to thin,

As London soldiers were wounded

And killed by blasts.

A last bomb burst and the Germans

Readied to invade a space, where

Surely no one lived.

Still in cautious stealth, they began

To walk though the cordite haze,

When they came to halt.

Ahead on the parapets, stood men

Of London with their bayonets fixed -

Goading their approach.

Not so many yards separated

Opposites - 'Come on Fritz!' went

The English shout.

Declining the invite, the Germans

Turned under a hail of thousands

Of retaliating bullets.

Back to their trenches they ran -

Survivors leaving casualties

In their wake.

Learning of his London regiment,

Their Brigadier General then sent

Warmest congratulations.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1916. London Regiment's Bravery. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 19 May 1916. P.10. Col.1. Available at: <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12210234/Daily-Telegraph-May-23-1916.html>  [Accessed: 26 May 2016].

Mann, J., 2016. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal

communication, 26 May 2016). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12210234/Daily-Telegraph-May-23-1916.html

http://worldwaroneblogger.blogspot.co.uk/

#WW1 #WW1centenary #GreatWar #WW1poem #GreatWar #WW1centenary #worldwarone #worldwaroneremembered #WW1WesternFront 

Poem ~ Battle Plan:1916 - Tuesday, 23 May 1916 - Thursday, 25 May 1916

Source: File: Joseph Joffre, Commander in chief of French Army in 1914. [online] See an original image at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Joffre> [Accessed: 23 May 2016]

Source: File: Field Marshal Douglas Haig. [online] See an original an image at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Haig,_1st_Earl_Haig> [Accessed: 23 May 2016]

Source: File: General Foch. [online] See an original an image at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Foch> [Accessed: 23 May 2016]

After 11 months of a European struggle

Between allies and an offensive Germany,

Came the proposed need of clear strategy -

French Commander-in-Chief General Joffre

June 1915, set out ideal for the allies to unify

Their forces more effectively at Germany.

Between allied countries Britain, France,

Belgium, Russia, Serbia and Italy, formed

An Initial Inter-Allied Military Conference -

Arranged for 7 July 1915, held at Chantilly -

A need for regular meetings led to both

English and French leaders decisions.

17 November 1915, the two prime ministers

Met, to confirm requirement to organise armies

By a permanent committee - the documentation

By Joffre followed with the 'Plan Of Action' -

For coordinated forces of Russian, Italian,

British and French, due for date mid 1916.

At the military Conference 16 December

1915, Lieut-General Sir Archibald Murray

Presented a treatise on future of the war - but

Days later Robertson replaced Murray, while

Haig replaced French - as strategy confirmed

France and Flanders were centres of war.

Close cooperation would be on European

Ground - all efforts were to be for combined

Allied strength for offensive attacks around

Spring 1916. At December's end the Chantilly

Meeting Called by Joffre, formed a proposal

Before French President and ministers.

Following his appointment General Haig,

As commander of British Forces in France

And Flanders, came under French pressure

To combine their allied attack across a 60

Mile Front - the situation to be Somme -

Centred between Roye and Compiegne.

General Foch was ordered to prepare

French, from Somme River to Lassigny

In south - the idea for an offence on front

That saw stalemate over all other fronts,

And backed by British for success - Haig

Then agreed to take tenth Amy at Lens.

Modification of General Joffre’s proposal

Came by January 1916 - that by April's

End, five offences would be ready; three

South East, Oise, Champagne and Somme -

Haig would then create a seven-mile Front

North of the Somme to create damage.

This was to be in three months; 20 April.

Haig refused on three counts; to soften the

Enemy had no strategic purpose - also to be

Politically unsound - or likely seen as defeat

By their enemy; nor could forces be ready -

The proposal could only be bataille d’usure.

Along side French ideas, Haig asked

His Field Marshall's to devise parallel

Schemes - to consider available usage

Of 20 divisions over a 10 mile stretch -

And at which front to be most effective,

Alongside battle plans for frontlines.

They also had to consider Flanders;

About Houthulst, Lille area, Messines

And Wytschete Ridge, which was then

Discussed at first of what then became

Weekly Army Commanders Conference -

A finalised plan revealed 14 February.

Joffre amended his idea, to abandon

Of wearing out enemy before launch

Of a big offensive - the plan became

For minor British moves at La Bassee

And Ypres - while combined French

And British to be in area of Somme.

This major attack would be around

Date of 1 July 1916 - but then matters

Changed as German 5th Army launched

An attack of Région Fortifiée de Verdun -

Within five days Joffre knew Verdun

Would not be a short-lived conflict.

At the start of March General Haig

Was to carry on prepartions for north

Of the Somme - possibly earlier than

July - at the end of March a final plan

Was a fight at Lassigny and Hebuterne.

A change of importance was to drain

Germans away from Verdun - to alter

Initial start of 1 August to 1 July - Haig

Took over the planning of manoeuvres,

With support of General Rawlinson -

An 8 day bombardement would begin.

The plan was certain, with British army

Numbers increased by Earl Kitchener -

In August 1914 the five divisions grew

To 43 Divisions - 1 January 1916, saw

Around a million soldiers stand ground

Of France - munitions were yet to match.

At the end of January 1916 David Lloyd

George, Munitions Minster promised

By April, production would be increased -

Although no account was made of quality

Of gunnery and shells being produced -

Preparations stepped up a gear for July.

by Jamie Mann.

Source: File: Battle of the Somme - Spartacus Educational. Online. Available at: <http://spartacus-educational.com/FWWsomme.htm> Accessed 23 May 2016

Source: File: The Long, Long Trail: British tactical planning for the start of the Somme offensive, 1916. Online. Available at: <http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/battles/battles-of-the-western-front-in-france-and-flanders/the-battles-of-the-somme-1916/british-tactical-planning-for-the-start-of-the-somme-offensive-1916/> Accessed 23 May 2016

Mann, J., 2016. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal

communication, 23 May 2016). 

http://worldwaroneblogger.blogspot.co.uk/

#WW1 #WW1centenary #GreatWar #WW1poem #GreatWar #WW1centenary #worldwarone #worldwaroneremembered #WW1Somme