Impression sketch
of Sniper's Duel.
In a
release by High Commissioner
For
Australia, spoke the official agent
Of
the Press, Captain Bean, on war
Stories
- to tell many were incomplete.
As
stories are want for completion
To
reach an end - as when regiments
Of
opposition met in a wood, to shoot
Each
other down until the last man.
These tales begin with elements
Of truth, but weaved by ornament
When
untangled by threads of gilt -
The
truth is lacking in all effects.
At
times stories are only given in half,
As
when the German officer, seen
By
an Anzac ambulance man, to then
Pull
out a gun and shoot him down.
Hence a story left in the air, lacked
What
followed, that every Anzac close
By aimed a rifle to end the German;
Such
stories miss out the final outcome.
Early
In Gallipoli campaign a stretcher
Bearer
to treat a Turkish soldier, used
His
a knife to cut clothing about a wound -
That
Turk grabbed the knife to stab him.
His
belief was that he was about to be
Eviscerated
- his reaction being to fight
Back
- the obvious reaction was calmed
By
the bearer, to complete the dressing.
Captain
Bean had learnt the truth
From
the ambulance crew - how the
Bearer,
barely hurt, had became source
Of
the embellished tuppenny version.
To
relate a story two months before -
In October
a battalion captain, known
To
Captain Bean, came across a man
Shooting,
standing above the parapet.
Head
and shoulders in view, the Anzac
Fired
at something - the Captain told
Him
not to be a fool and to stand down -
The second he went, the man stood again.
The
truth was the Anzac was in a duel
With
a Turk - to have a shot at the other -
Who
then took a return aim - what way
Of
signalling to do game, was unknown.
In the
undertaking, men of the section
On both
sides observed with periscopes
And
loopholes, as duellists continued
The
Turk's shot grazed the Anzac's ear.
Close
observation to game's rules held,
Until
the Australian fell, hit in temple -
In
fact that bullet came from another
Source
- unaware of any agreed duel.
The
idea of recklessness in any war
Situation,
could only be a positive trait -
As
in trench and ravines night fighting;
Which
had taken place at Saris Bair.
Captain
Bean learned that on 7 August
At
Dawn a Light Horse Brigade charged
Turkish
position - as the Light Horsemen
Made
it, the remainder fell to their knees.
A
conversation with one wounded man,
An
officer, told how first line left the trench -
With the men they waited for two minutes;
The
first line crumbled ahead at 10 yards.
A
third line was all too aware - the second
Line
lifted, to reach a little further than first -
He
fell to wait for the third to piggyback -
And
man rushed past, right for the Turk line.
The
third line did not seem so lucky as
The
others - he was alone and nothing
Moved
close by - bullets spat up dust -
The
earth about blurred in shrapnel haze.
From somewhere a man edged close
To
ask what to do? 'Rush or jump?'
'Get
back anyway you can,' he said;
The
officer lay, a bullet lodged in his foot.
With
head towards enemy, he shuffled
Himself
backwards - a pull came upon
His
sleeve; a dead man's bayonet held
Him
with a tug, the sleeve stopped fast.
The
officer, forced to move forward into
Snapping
bullets to pull free - then again
Backwards
till his feet hit space, where
He
fell into a sap, finally reaching safety.
One
brigadier was on duty about lines,
When
he came across a well-built man -
To
take a second look, gave him orders
To remove
his cap - to be questioned.
How
old was he? - The reply being 45
Was
challenged, to admit to being 60.
Asked
why he was there, the fellow
Told of his sons, both killed at the start.
Told of his sons, both killed at the start.
Such are the reckless risks that many
Men make, to form a force's backbone.
by Jamie Mann.
Anon.,1915. Epic
of Anzac - Some War Stories - Australian Recklessness. The Daily Telegraph,
[online] 24 December. P.5.
Col.2. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12064917/Daily-Telegraph-December-24-1915.html
[Accessed: 28 December 2015].
Mann, J., 2015. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal
communication, 28 December 2015).
#WW1 #WW1centenary #GreatWar #WW1poem #GreatWar #WW1centenary #worldwarone
#worldwaroneremembered #WW1Gallipoli
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