Source: File: 1915 Army recruitment
poster. See an original image at:
<https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:It_is_far_better_to_face_the_bullets.jpg>
[Accessed
27 September 2016]
While the
fighting on the front continued,
There was no let
up on the home front -
Zeppelin raids
continued on a mission
To bring
confusion and damage over
English shores. In
a south London
Suburb of a correspondent’s
home,
Came a personal
experience.
Recognising the
crackling of distant
Gunfire, the
correspondent went
Out onto the
street - time close
About midnight. Distant, muffled
Sounds to be only
sign of any
Kind of event -
all of a sudden
A green flare lit
the darkness.
The strange burst
of light brought
The neighbouring
buildings into
Flickering relief - drifting down,
Lighting the
underside of an
Airship; joined by
further two
Flares falling as
green stars,
Observed by the
reporter.
For ten minutes he stood to watch.
Following dull drones of zeppelin
Engines, in returned darkness,
Engines, in returned darkness,
Came in rapid succession a fall
Of six bombs, dropping across
The London suburb - fleeing
Raiders followed the roads.
Raiders followed the roads.
By trail of
damaged pockmarked
Civilian homes,
the zeppelin
Took advantage of
mapping
Above tramline routes and
Roads over south London -
Dropping their explosives
Loads and incendiaries.
Occurring during one late Saturday
Night, this raid over London saw
One witness, a newsagent, who
As usual did not close up shop
Until the hour of midnight - ten
Minutes after locking up, this
Shop owner heard noise
Of shells and gunfire.
One witness, a newsagent, who
As usual did not close up shop
Until the hour of midnight - ten
Minutes after locking up, this
Shop owner heard noise
Of shells and gunfire.
Explosive sounds
were a distance
Away - being
unable to see any
Disturbance on
the streets, he
Climbed the
stairs where his
Family lived over
the shop -
Only a short time
later, noisy
Shells bursts came
closer.
The shop owner
went to look from
His window and
saw mid air the
Bomb burst - the
resulting force
Flung him across
the bedroom
Onto the bed -
unharmed, yet
Distress was made
worse by
Shattered electric
lights bulbs.
With a rewind of
seconds the shop
Owner stood at a
window - eyes
Fixed on a moving
shape that
He described as
bursting,
Before it hit the
ground; his
Close proximity
feeling
Full effects of a
blast.
From sudden explosive reactions
The area around
the epi-centre
Created over-pressurised
air -
Faster than light
air particles
Of high
compression flew out
In all directions; a blast wave
Had caused initial
destruction.
An old woman was walking
down
The road, at the
same time as
The shopkeeper
felt the force
Of compressed air
- all glass
Fragmented into a
shards,
As he was picked
up by
The blast waves
impact.
As he was carried
across a room
The old lady was
also lifted and
Dropped down at a
distance,
Unhurt -
transformed energy
Became shockwaves
more
Powerful to push energy
Through the old
lady.
With the shopkeeper
flying backwards
He absorbed the
effect unaffected,
Only to be
stunned, safely landing
On the bed in
milliseconds. Waves
Of the shells burst then formed
A blast wind - the
outward
Push causing a vacuum.
What the shopkeeper had found odd,
Was fact that
none of the glass
Fell inside - what had happened
Was a vacuum in sudden refilled
With air - this suction force of
High intensity
acted to pull all
Glass and debris
backwards.
The concussive
force resulted -
Also to lift the
shopkeepers
Roof a full four
inches - by
Final
fragmentation the
Bomb fell into
the public
Park opposite the
shop,
Creating a deep crater.
By bombing London on
Saturday
Night the
Zeppelin fortunately
Chose a late hour,
when less
People were on
the streets,
Than if it had
been 10 p.m. -
Still to affect those who
Were traveling home.
One lady returning from the theatre,
Having then
stepped out of a taxi
Cab, felt the sudden
explosive
Concussion, to throw
her down -
Others were
injured as she
Saw 15 people helped from
Their damaged
homes.
by Jamie Mann.
Anon.,1916. Scenes
In London - Bombs On A Road. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 26 September 1916. P.9.
Col.5. Available at: <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12213293/Daily-Telegraph-September-26-1916.html>
[Accessed: 27 September 2016].
Mann, J., 2016. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal
communication, 27 September 2016).
#WW1 #WW1centenary #GreatWar #WW1poem #GreatWar #WW1centenary
#worldwarone #worldwaroneremembered #WW1London
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