Tuesday, 27 December 2016

Poem ~ Little Tragedy - Wednesday, 27 December 1916

Source: File: Men from 6th (City of London) Bn, The London Regiment (City of London Rifles) 1915. See an original image at: <http://armyservicenumbers.blogspot.co.uk/2008/08/6th-city-of-london-bn-london-regiment.html> [Accessed 27 December 2016]

To illustrate tragedies of war on families,
Came the story of a family of the Littles'
From Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire -
Before 1914 Jim Little and his wife had 
Emigrated to begin a new life in America.
The young couple had a daughter, Alice.

While the husband and father remained
In New York, Mrs. Enid Margaret Little aged
24 and daughter Alice Laura of 14 months,
Set out to sail to England onboard the ship
Lusitania - on 1 May 1915 they travelled
Second class when the ship was struck.

Sunk by a German submarine both were
Drowned - after the tragedy greatly plagued 
With grief, husband and father Jim Little had
Decided to fight for his homeland. He came
Back to England joining 1st/6th Battalion
London Regiment (City of London Rifles).

A rifleman, Private Little 6460 by autumn
1916, was fighting on the western front.
Further sadness befell the Little family,
When Arthur and Laura Little of Aylesbury
Received the telegram that told how their
Son had been killed on the Belgium front.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1916. Toll Of The War. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 2 December 1916. P.11. Col.6. Available at: <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12213909/Daily-Telegraph-December-2-1916.html> [Accessed: 27 December 2016].

Source: File: entry by Liverpool Anne 02 December 2009. Available at: <http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=302984.72> [Accessed 27 December 2016]

Mann, J., 2016. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 27 December 2016). 


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