Tuesday 27 September 2016

Poem ~ Zeppelin Attack - Wednesday, 27 September 1916 - Thursday, 28 September 1916


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,
Came in rapid succession a fall
Of six bombs, dropping across
The London suburb - fleeing
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.

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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