Source: File: Captain
Billie Nevill. See an original image at: <http://www.twickenham-museum.org.uk/detail.php?aid=255&cid=8&ctid=1>
[Accessed 13 July 2016]
Source: File: The
Football Charge of 8th Btn. The East Surreys at The Somme. See an original image at: <http://www.queensroyalsurreys.org.uk/new_museum/20th_century_room/Case5/The_Football.shtml>
[Accessed 13 July 2016]
Source: File: The
Football Charge of 8th Btn. The East Surreys at The Somme. See an original image at: <http://www.queensroyalsurreys.org.uk/new_museum/20th_century_room/Case5/The_Football.shtml>
[Accessed 13 July 2016]
Seeking
out stories of Big Push's
First
day, led to an East Surrey regiment.
One
among the many that took
Part,
whose driven success against odds
To
be an everyman battalion.
Time
replayed as a gramophone
Groove
back to 1 July zero hour, whistles
Blew
- in their assembly trenches
East
Surreys took to the field 7.50 a.m.
They
lifted to pace out a path.
Optimism
of an officer showed
In
his bottle of champagne he carried -
To be shared with close comrades
After
they walked over the German lines.
Company
officer Captain Nevill,
Produced
four footballs - each platoon
Were
given one - at kick off
They
would form a dribbling competition.
This
would last a mile and quarter -
Platoon
commanders kicked off the balls
In
unison - within minutes Captain
Nevill
fell - still
the footballs were kicked,
As they walked into a bullet hail.
As they walked into a bullet hail.
In
unison men’s cursing cried
Against
the enemy side - then that game
Faltered
as their survival took
Lead
over balls lost in long grass; the hour
Passed
noon as the survivors…
Changed
to bombs and bayonets
To
clear out the German trenches - time
12.22
p.m. gained for a heavy
Price
- from four, two footballs were found.
The
plan was send them home -
At
Kingston Regimental Depot, to preserve
As
trophies of that days hard won
Success, by men of East Surrey regiment.
From
out of the overall picture
Came
individual feats of soldiers - with
One
man's claim to have slain
Seventeen
Germans by his own hand.
One
quiet appearing Tommy
Was
indicated, who had handed his rifle
To a
friend to hold, while he
Took
down a Boche with his bare fists.
Why?
The answer; 'the bloke
Was
too old to shoot down in cold blood
And
too thin to bayonet.'
Another
story involved machine gunners.
Two
men detected a German
Machine
gun in a dugout, with permission
They
got the blighted thing
To
work - then they lifted it to the parapet.
At a
close communication
Trench, some Germans were watching,
Unsure
of British numbers -
The two East Surrey machine gunners
Let
loose with three belts.
Behind
them, under a mile,
Approached
a column of enemy artillery
Ammunition
- the two turned
The machine gun to sweep at this enemy.
At
this unexpected attack,
The German convoy tried its best to escape
At a
gallop - though by then
The
damage had already been done to them.
Three
caught machine guns
Were
taken, captured as battalion trophies -
One desperate sight was seen -
Nearby to a German gunner chained to his
Machine,
a soldier hung.
The
suicide suggested reasons
Of being
driven mad, by shattered nerves
From
the bombardment that
Had
lasted for days - other brutal evidence
Lay
in found cat-o-nine-tails.
By
admittance of heavy losses
Stories
continued - with compressed
Hours
of experiences and spirit
That,
while dented, had a determined
British
stance to avenge losses.
A
grizzled soldier, introduced
As a
bit of a battalion character, stepped
Up
to open contents of a bag;
A
bugle, a helmet, a sword knot, an officer's
Dagger
and wallet of postcards.
The
trench loot poured out,
As
this soldier stated how the officer
Had
been angry to have his
Revolver
taken; 'that is private property.'
To
argue would have wasted
Time
- so he just directed his bayonet
At
the fellow and 'the swanker
Understood;’
this ended the argument.
Witness to their stories later
Saw
unfamiliar field guns being pulled,
Without
sign of ammunition -
To realise
the machines were captured
Limbers
of German 77's.
by Jamie Mann.
by Jamie Mann.
Anon.,1916. 1916. Gallant East Surreys - A Charge With
Footballs. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 12 July 1916. P.10. Col.2. Available at:
<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12211961/Daily-Telegraph-July-12-1916.html>[Accessed:
13 July 2016].
Mann, J., 2016. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication,
13 July 2016).
#WW1 #WW1centenary #GreatWar #WW1poem #GreatWar #WW1centenary
#worldwarone #worldwaroneremembered #WW1Somme
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