Impression sketch
of Ruins of Montauban. [online] See original image at: <https://17thmanchesters.wordpress.com/the-big-push/the-defence-of-montauban/>
[Accessed: 08 July 2016]
A Knight on
Wheels by Ian Hay, 1914 - was a popular book read by British soldiers at the
front. An ebook version is available at: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/38368
From phases of
battle,
Within the area
of Picardy,
Lay a target
assault
On Montauban - a
sergeant
Told a tale in
blighty,
Of Somme’s great
advance.
Over the top in
fashion
Of an orderly charge
they
Reached the
commune -
Yet it little resembled
any
Habitable place,
with
Houses 'head over
heels.'
Initially they
split into
Groups of six -
the company
Taking separate
paths -
With hardly any
resistance
To merge once more,
As they closed on
the village.
They looked to a
tree,
Where a machine
gunner was
Posted on a neat,
Painted platform
almost unseen.
Shot down he fell,
To hang in tree
by his boots.
The sergeant with
His close group
of five pals,
Pressed into what
Had been streets,
to find two
Cafes still stood
- all
About sighting Germans.
They ran 'monkeying'
Between ruins, as
more
Ran from the back
Of the village -
his close
Group detected
Group detected
A few Huns in a house.
At ground level
they
Tossed a mills
bomb into
The window,
without
Waiting around
for replies,
They pelted around
A corner to face a German.
They pelted around
A corner to face a German.
By a wall he
fired
From a brick
emplacement.
His machine gun
took
Aim at the sergeant’s
feet
Who did not stop,
Charging with
bayonet.
Bullets rattled
out
'Two kicks over
the heart,'
He felt as his
bayonet
Halted the German
game -
Unable to progress
He looked down to
damage.
The machine
gunner
Had hit his foot
badly, not
Only that, his tunic
Only that, his tunic
Breast pocket had
two
Bullet holes - he
Looked inside at
the result.
Both bullets had
cut
Into his shaving
mirror,
Halted by pocket
Case, the force
had welded
Both to form a
metal
Lump, nosing into
a book.
Earlier that
morning,
His officer had
given him
The book to read
In the German
trenches -
Forgetting he had
Put the book in his
pocket.
While metal had
Saved his life,
this book
'A Knight on
Wheels,'
Was a companion
on a later
Return to blighty
-
While injured he observed.
While injured he observed.
Before them three
Germans appeared to
drop
Rifles - in
reaction
So did the Tommy’s,
who
Embarked on a
fist
Fight - outcome unknown.
Another soldier
lad
Chasing after
three Germans,
Caught them up -
He applied the
bayonet to two
To swing his
rifle butt
Onto the third taking him down.
Like some hobby
He described idea
of fun,
In the easy
capture
Of Montanan - one Tommy
Caught in a blast,
Stood up again,
dazed.
He stated, 'Oh
there
Must be a war on
after all,
I suppose' - then
He carried on this duty,
As the injured
Sergeant left for
blighty.
by Jamie Mann.
Anon.,1916. 1916. Soldiers Stories Of The Great Advance - Capture of Montauban. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 8 July 1916. P.9. Col.6. Available at: <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12211872/Daily-Telegraph-July-8-1916.html>[Accessed: 8 July 2016].
Anon.,1916. 1916. Soldiers Stories Of The Great Advance - Capture of Montauban. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 8 July 1916. P.9. Col.6. Available at: <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12211872/Daily-Telegraph-July-8-1916.html>[Accessed: 8 July 2016].
Mann, J., 2016. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal
communication, 8 July 2016).
#WW1 #WW1centenary #GreatWar #WW1poem #GreatWar #WW1centenary
#worldwarone #worldwaroneremembered #WW1Somme
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