Impression sketch
of trench raider with two pound hammer - by Jamie.
Within the
humdrum tedium of trench
Existence - where
nothing might
Seem to ever
progress - a possible chance
For the soldier
to actually get
Something done, was
often welcomed.
Within the
Kemmel-Wyteschaete area
A selection of
British men, along
With their
officers, were quickly pleased
As punch when
being chosen
To form a
dangerous, raiding party.
Deep in a wintery
dark night with mist
Hanging around,
an officer
Saw them embark,
as chuffed as a bunch
Of dogs with tin
tails, to raid
Trenches of
Kemmel-Wyteschaete road.
The stillness was
not exactly what
They thought
ideal -
To prefer teeming
rain and howling
Winds to keep
their
Opponents,
sheltering in the dugouts.
Still they moved
out with a mission,
To include the
surprise
Of elements, that
could not be given -
Should the enemy
learn
To know the
impossible as possible.
150 yards of
dirty charnel earth,
Lay between
opposites -
Punctuated by
hard entanglements
Of barbed wire, which
Had taken months
of perfection.
Across and
through this landscape,
The raiders had
to make
Silent
progression - for any detection
Was to result in
annihilation -
How this achieved
could not be told.
Once done, they close
in on a sentry
Suffering with
seizures
Of coughing fits -
with his choking’s
Nearly killing him,
a quick
Bayonet from the
dark ended him.
A picture of
these men hovered
On the parapet,
to look
Down into
designer built trenches -
Peopled by shadowy
men,
Who fell in a
fray of rapid confusion.
First left then
right, were described
Flashes of crimson
death -
Amid the
surprised yells, an officer
Emptied his
revolver,
To grab a German
rifle for a club.
As assailants
made their attack,
Germans hurried
out
From dugouts -
some in blankets
Shocked from
sleep -
While hand bombs
blow out insides.
Rousing out those last unfortunates
With blasting
bombs,
Some allied
assailant types, showed
Innovation in
chosen
Weapons - as a
man with a hammer.
With these raiders
taking down lives
With their hands,
The odd request
for one two pound
Hammer was given
-
The man later quizzed
for his reasons.
The heavy tool,
the man explained,
Was something he
used
In daily business
back at home - such
A heavy headed
item he
Could put to use over anything else.
Then an arranged
signal was raised
For attackers to
withdraw -
After the brief
affair, these soldiers
Precisely made
their way
Back, as Germans
manned their guns.
Only to find how the machine guns had
Been disabled - British
Losses came to
three, as two soldiers
Helped one
wounded
Man - all three
to fall at the parapet.
That calm misty
night boomed,
Prompted by the
raid -
Snapping at heels
an angry enemy
Sought revenge -
flashes
Of rifles
puckered down the line.
Deep darkness
blurred with flares
As allied
artillery woke,
To blast out
shells over German
Lines, likely
suffering
With shelling hitting
their trenches.
As later noted in
the officially made
Communication, was
How methods to
win the war could
Only be achieved,
By striking out
to kill every Boche.
by Jamie Mann.
Anon.,1916. Daring
Exploit of British Soldiers - Raid On A Trench. The Daily Telegraph,
[online] 4 February 1916.
P.6. Col.3. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12134547/Daily-Telegraph-February-4-1916.html
[Accessed: 4 February 2016].
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