Wednesday 3 February 2016

Poem ~ Explosive Warning - Thursday, 3 February 1916


Impression sketch of Explosive Warning - by Jamie.

Warnings follow on heels of warnings,
Which only the wise would take notice -
By Chief Inspector words on explosives.

A Home office issue 2 February 1916,
Gave notification to risks of dangers
Of relics, transported from the frontline.

Most dangerous of all were any fuse
Or shells that having once been fired,
Became sensitive in failing to explode.

Such intact armaments might be kept
In a way, that the firing mechanism
Could be subjected or moved, to blow.

An explosive catastrophe a likely result -
Home Office advice was many numbers
Of accidental fatalities already occurred.

Much less risky were those cartridges
Or shells that had never been fired
Although any possession was illegal.

To quote Explosives Act 1875 stating
Any dismantling or using explosives,
Was illegal, subject to heavy penalties.

The enforced warning was tremendous
Risks in the tampering of such shells,
Made by any unqualified acts of persons.

The Home Office warning extended,
To give legality in keeping fragments
Of shells, that once held explosives.

Such examples of what might be kept
Were rifle cartridges, being half inch
Diameter and measuring three inches.

Advice concluded that for illegal types
Being likely to blow, was for keepers
To drop them into nearest deep waters.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1916. Dangerous War Relics - A Warning. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 3 February 1916. P.7. Col.6. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12134516/Daily-Telegraph-February-3-1916.html [Accessed: 3 February 2016].



#WW1 #WW1centenary #GreatWar #WW1poem #GreatWar #WW1centenary #worldwarone #worldwaroneremembered #WW1homefront

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