Poem ~ Madam Delacourt Thwarts Invaders - Monday, 21 August 1916 - Tuesday, 22 August 1916

Source: File: The heroines of the Great War - Octavia Delacourt. See an original image at: <https://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://87dit.canalblog.com/archives/2014/10/15/30769815.html&prev=search> [Accessed 21 August 2016]

i

When war was hardly two months old,

With the movement of German invasion

Was reaching a peak, came experience

Of a farmer's wife Octavie Delacourt.

In the month of September 1914 madam

Delacourt, aged 56 left home, Bord de Bois,

To walk on an errand in area of Vauvais -

Through forests to commune of Gournay.

Following the logging road through dense

Trees, she was startled - a hand clamped

Her shoulder - turning about to face a large

Man wearing a cap and dressed in grey.

Not knowing what a German soldier may

Look like, madam Delacourt could only

Assume that this man was of that army -

When another stepped out of the wood.

The three stood and regarded each other.

No words were spoken as these soldiers

Turned her about, indicating she should

Return back to where she had come from.

Outwardly calm but inwardly tense, madam

Delacourt started to walk slowly away from

Their gaze, then picking up her pace - once

Around the corner the woman began to run.

Despite her urgency she suddenly slowed,

As she spied two more soldiers half hiding

In a thicket, close to Fieffé farm - once again

Moving out of sight, she ran to Neuf Marche.

At this closest village the breathless madam

Delacourt began her urgent warnings - to tell

How Prussian soldiers were in the woods

Not knowing how many; only to be ridiculed.

Insistent of her story to everyone whose

Attention she gained - farmers, gendarmes,

Along with the postmistress - that there

Were Prussians hiding back in the woods.

ii

After a sequence of successful bridge raids

A German commando style force had set out

In vehicles, in the operation in race to the sea;

Three cars and a truck conveyed Prussians.

Driving through dark hours towards French

Lines, encountering resistance on their way -

At Margny-aux-Cerises, interactions with

French cavalry led to a loss of one vehicle.

The group sped away and impersonated

British troops, to cut down a French guard.

After a days of hiding they set off again,16th

September, as madam Delacourt left home.

The locals found it hard to believe, despite

Declaration of war, how Germans had made

It as far to Lower Normandy - then the post

Mistress took madam Delacourt seriously.

While the mistress telegraphed authorities,

Three volunteer Gendarmes followed madam

Delacourt's directions into the Boos forest -

Their initial disbelief became well disproved.

Attempts to detain the Prussians soldiers

Hiding in the woods failed, as all three men

Were killed - the commando raiders sped

Off in escape, to continue their mission.

Captain Walther Tilling, leading the band of

Commandos, was forced to leave one fatally

Injured man behind - from the dense forest

Of Boos, the crack of gunfire had echoed.

iii

The exchange of fire was sudden, to leave

Dead gendarmes Jules Labas and Eugene,

Along with unnamed driver and civil guard.

The sounds carrying beyond Boos forest.

Rapid fire killed three as Blacher, fatally

Injured with driver Rene Alley - Prussians

Fled, speeding off towards Manville - Police

Had heard shots echo form the Boos forest.

Warnings had begun to spread - authorities

Were warned at Etrepagny and Andelys -

Only by evening were alerts in place to say

Two vehicles on loose, one to be a limousine.

The other was a truck driven by Germans

Dressed in French uniforms; they headed

To Gurney en Bray - the evening moved on

At 22.30, two police stood at Oissel bridge.

At Tourville-la-Rivière police went to gain

Arms - bright car lights appeared, followed

By another vehicle - seen by the guards,

They took pot shots at speeding headlights.

At high speed the first car was fired on -

The second passed, unaware of police

Ahead; authority actions followed, trying

To track the German soldiers directions.

iV

Their plan had been to blow the bridge

At Oissel, but any attempt was scuppered

By alerted authorities - the two remaining

Vehicles set out to avoid their capture.

The rogue Prussians now turned towards

Saint-Aubin-les-Elbeuf, to pass onto Cleon,

Keeping to the Seine road - the Germans

Paused at Bedanne to check their vehicles.

French officials meanwhile, set out to

Concentrate at the loop of a Seine route

At Val-on Renoux - helped by an drunk

Sergeant, from Sotteville-sous-le-Va.

The six though were ambushed - then

The Prussians began to move again,

Their lights spotted close to Freneuse -

Attempts to track them still continued.

Into the next day at hour of 1 a.m.

17th September, the group encountered

Alerted guards, who attempted to stop

Them with gunfire; the cars revved up.

Yet the limousine misjudged a corner,

To speed off the road - the other car

Still carried on - a wounded Captain

Tilling and five Prussians surrendered.

Attempts of blowing French bridges

failed into nothing, as the truck on road

To Igoville halted there, abandoned -

The driver was later caught in a house.

Hiding at Tourville-la-Rivière a German

Was wounded by nervous police. Days

Later on 22 September, the last two men

Surrender in hunger, at Aubin-lès-Elbeuf.

So the actions of Madam Delacourt had

Led to failed commando raids on French

Bridges, that could have harmed allies -

An affair called the fight of Rougemare.

By Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1916. A Curious Adventure. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 21 August 1916. P.8. Col.3. Available at: <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12212816/Daily-Telegraph-August-21-1916.html> [Accessed: 21 August 2016].

Source: File: Fighting the Rougemare and Flamingos. Available at: <https://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combat_de_la_Rougemare_et_des_Flamants&prev=search> [Accessed 21 August 2016].

Mann, J., 2016. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 21 August 2016). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12212816/Daily-Telegraph-August-21-1916.html

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Poem ~ French Girl Saves Ten Tommies - Tuesday, 23 March 1915

Le Petit Journal of Paris, retells

A tale of some months before,

When war was new - to change

Normality for all matters French.

A very brave young girl - who could

For this tale be called Jeanne - worked

In a town, at a girl's boarding school,

That on news of war sent pupils home.

Jeanne, being a servant remained

Behind, keeping company of an old

Lady, who was partly paralysed and

Deaf - perhaps to look after her.

Within the area fighting had been

Happening - with the likelihood that

The Germans would invade -when 

Ten English Tommies appeared.

The men staggered into the school

Grounds exhausted, as Jeanne came

Outside to see them - an English officer

Warned her of the Germans approach.

At any moment the forces would

Be there - Jeanne was calm, saying

It did not matter - she would hide

Them, before doing anything else.

Into the garden she led the ten

Men, down into a grotto - the space

Was cramped and damp, for such

A number of men to be left there.

The town did not have very long

To wait  - the Germans appeared

And marched into the girl's school,

To search from basement to attic.

All bedding and linen they found

Was taken for their own troops and

Wounded - who instead of using

The building, rested in the chapel.

Some time later Jeanne returned

To the hidden Tommies, to promise

To secure them better. When safe

She led them secretly to the attic.

With the hidden lodgers above,

And the installed Germans below,

Jeanne took the chance that no

Curious German might find them.

Then there was the problem

Of feeding hungry English men.

To start, she gave them her ration

Then gained the help of friends.

Collecting all pieces of bread

Or vegetables to fill her basket.

When the Germans questioned her,

Jeanne said it was for their men.

With her calm convincing air, Jeanne

Offered her services to the Germans,

As a cook - to further allow her to get

Foodstuffs for the hidden Englishmen.

A diet of food though was not enough-

As the Tommies missed their tobacco.

Rules of the invaders was that every

Citizen was alllowed a tobacco ration.

Jeanne devised a way to provide

Enough stores - with her own smokes

And with a little boys army, who about

The town, bought every small amount.

Carefully each day, Jeanne made

Her way to the attic, with supplies

For the hidden men - who had become

Rested and ready to make an escape.

Jeanne had an idea to assist them

In a plan. The attic dormitory was

Accessed by trap doors on each floor;

Leading to a ground room and garden.

In gaining a long rope as tall as the

building, Jeanne advised the men

To practice a drill to descend - Jeanne

Was thrilled by the practiced results.

With a rope lowered through each

Trap the men, with packed haversacks,

Could be ready and prepared to slide

Down the rope in under five minutes.

The preparation for this escape proved

Unneeded - when on 24 September

The Germans evacuated and the ten

Men left, to return safely to their lines.

One of the men was said to be related

To King George. As they left they had

Given Jeanne their names and home

Addresses, so she might visit England.

They promised her a royal welcome.

With the start of a new bombardment

On the town, the German invaders

Returned, so Jeanne decided to leave.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1915. Devoted French Girl - Germans Hoodwinked. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 23 Mar. P.12. Col.5. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11486293/Daily-Telegraph-March-23-1915.html [Accessed: 23 March 2015].

Mann, J., 2015. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 23 March 2015). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11034515/Daily-Telegraph-Janauary-1-1915.html

http://worldwaroneblogger.blogspot.co.uk/

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Poem ~ Friends Reunited at Front - Thursday, 4 March 1915

Source: File: Prince.jpg, 2015. Dogged determination. World War One Great war Stories, Luton's Great War, told by its people today Submitted by Deejaya on 14 August 2014. 2 March 1915. [online] Available at: <http://www.worldwar1luton.com/blog-entry/dogged-determination> [Accessed: 4 March 2015].

i

Since the earliest months of conflict

And movements of enemy and allied

Forces that weaved through Belgium

And France, people fled their homes

In villages and towns often destroyed

Burnt to the ground –

Through such deserted places as these

English soldiers found other abandoned

Refugees – dogs of those gone or dead

Who then attached themselves to these

English troopers.

With displacement of animal's homes,

A refuge was created near Boulogne -

On the road to Wimereaux - whereby

Pets, dogs or other animals, found by

Soldiers would be looked after - until

They reclaimed by the human owners -

Their missing friends.

ii

One such story of dog and human friend

Could be recalled from the earliest days

Of an opening war starting August 1914.

A dedication and affection between man

And his closest friend to be recounted

In the month of March 1915.

In that late summer month James Brown

From his home in Hammersmith, London

Said goodbye to both his wife and Prince -

Their Irish Terrier. Private Brown called

To serve With the King's army in France

A horseman in the 1^st North Staffordshire's

Some time passed and Prince pined for

James’ Company – when on September

27^th his wife then noticed Prince had

Gone missing, she looked about - sadly

Unable to find him anywhere, she became

Afraid to write to her husband to explain.

iii

Two more months passed when a letter

Came for Mrs Brown from Mr Brown both

Solving and creating a mystery. Previously

Confessing that Prince was missing, a reply

Of her husband said he was sorry Prince

Not being found there, but that their terrier

Was now with him, stationed at the front line.

The story of Prince being found, had began

At Armentieres - Private Brown had returned

From a patrol and on that day as he rode

Back with other riders, amid the men was one

Standing with a dog, who walked toward him,

At first thinking the dog was very like his own

Irish Terrier, James Brown saw the man grin

To say, ‘I believe that this chap may be yours.’

In dismount James could still not believe his

Eyes until he knelt to say his name, ‘Prince?’

Who then greatly made a fuss of him.

With man and dog united as the fellow gave

Explanation how the Irish Terrier had travelled

Over to France, journeying with other troops.

Mr Brown's words to Mrs Brown explained his

Wonder; ‘Just fancy His coming and finding me.'

He added Prince, 'is quite settled Down with me.’

Then how her husband had found some old

Great coats, which he had used to make Prince

A coat to keep warm and how his faithful terrier

Was then adopted by the regiment as their pet.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1915. The Soldiers Dog. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 4 Mar. p.8. Col.7. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11447670/Daily-Telegraph-March-4-1915.html [Accessed: 4 March  2015].

Source.,1915. The Dogged Determination Great War Stories. Submitted by Deejaya on 14 August 2014, [online] Available at: http://www.worldwar1luton.com/blog-entry/dogged-determination [Accessed: 4 March  2015].

Mann, J., 2014. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 4 March  2015). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11447670/Daily-Telegraph-March-4-1915.html

http://worldwaroneblogger.blogspot.co.uk/

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Poem ~ Charlie Sorley: Officer of Poetry - Sunday, 17 January 1915

 

Source: File: Charles Hamilton Sorley in military uniform.jpg, 2015. Charles Sorley, Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 17 January 1915. [online] Available at:<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Sorley >[Accessed: 17 January 2015].

  

i  A Boy's Life

In Aberdeen of 1895 were born male twins,

William Ritchie Sorley and his elder brother,

Of some moments - Charles Hamilton Sorley. 

To Powis House, a mansion of the old town

Came this young family, with boys aged one -

A wild windy placed looking over the North

Sea - their home surrounded with fields,

Which were filled with the life of the wild -

And not so far away a station - for the boys

Led to mystery kingdoms down the tracks.

By age of five, now joined by a sister, the boys

Experienced another move - to Cambridge

Where their father was to become a university

Professor  - so the twins’ education began -

To centre on games of marching and singing.

Both in English and French - their sources,

Being the Pilgrims Progress and the Bible -

Along with ballads of Scott, Blake and bard

Of Shakespeare - all before a school career.

The older, Charlie Sorley, joined as a day boy,

At the King’s college choir school - happy

In everything - everywhere making adventures.

As twins, the boys looks and nature differed,

But a separation from his brother was uneasy;

For six weeks William fell ill with Scarlet Fever.

ii School Life

Aged 13 in 1908 Charlie gained a scholarship

With Marlborough College - separation again

Took him from William, then at another school.

Charlie by 1910 moved into the senior house,

Gaining delight in Alderley library - his resource.

This move Charlie had done with a friend

A boy who sadly, after a short illness, died.

Charlie was said to have taken this quietly.

With favoured runs across rain filled country,

He took solitary walks and to share in sports -

With iron views on right and wrong Charlie

Gave himself voluntary, for breaking of rules.

By December 1913 came yet another move

In education, with a scholarship for University

College Oxford – so Charlie agreed to leave

Marlborough early, an ending he would miss.

A habit for Charlie had been to write down

What was in his mind – early on this had been

In Forms of heroic verse, in a style of Scott –

The growing Charlie though, became reserved,

With his family knowing less of his activities.

  

Unknown to them he took part in a debating

Society  -making speeches and interactions

With the Malburian – the school magazine.

For a time his heroic verse tuned to shockers;

He told in dormitories within the dead of night.

Next in a move from lower to upper sixth,

Charlie gained leave to travel to Germany

First completing commitments to the Malburian

Preserving them for a family archive -Charlie

Sent batches of compositions to his mother,

On regular occasions, until June 1915.

iii  University Life

Now the twins were 19, when young Charlie,

On 20 January 1914, travelled away to Schmerin

In Mecklenberg – where he stayed with family

Of a lawyer – Charlie happily learned German,

And gained new friends  - with spring and April,

Charlie moved to Jena to become a university

Student - summer came in hot June, his family

Visited, for a stay in Jena and a tour of Thuringia.

During the Saturday evening of their weekend

Stay, Charlie led them through a town square -

Where men and women gathered about tables,

Under flared lights, with singing and drinking –

These people, who Charlie believed as having

Stupid expressions. The next day in climbing

A hill, they saw again such German habits.

They sat and looked across Jena - Charlie could

Not make out the German student who would

Spend two years in fighting, in folly drunkenness -

Only in the third year, did such students work -

To get though their exams - then with July 1914,

Came time for Charlie to trace his steps home.

A walking tour was planned, with a friend across

The Moselle valley, to join his brother William,

In Schwern  - in order to return home together

But this plan was never to happen - on Sunday

2 August, Charlie and friend were at Trier,

When suddenly arrested - to be placed in separate

Cells for a day – reasons for detainment given,

Due to their not wearing a hat – Charlie informed

The officer, such was a habit for people in Britain. 

Those long hours were relieved, by conversation,

With a soldier prisoner in the next cell - speaking

Through a knot hole while keeping awareness

Of the sentry – as tourists they were released,

And ordered to leave the country – so Charlie

Returned by way of Belgium – through Liege 

By train - as he drowsed on Monday afternoon,

Saw soldiers wearing waterloo hats on a platform.

By Brussels then Antwerp, Charlie shared

The problems of gaining passage homeward –

Finally to get aboard a boat, the British Consul

Had chartered - by 6 August Charlie made it home

Still hatless with a Jena beer mug and sandals.

  

iv Army Life

With hardly time to take any breath on 7 August,

Charlie applied to take an army commission,

With the university board of military studies –

Yet with nothing happening Charlie, in Oxford,

Made out another application to join up.

Charlie considered of joining as a private -

He believed to be 'the really heroic thing to do' -

When he found the Gazette displayed his name

For a new service battalion - the 7th Battalion

Of Suffolk Regiment - to be a second Lieutenant.

On that same day, came orders for him to report

At Churn, a training camp on the Berkshire Downs.

By third week of September he arrived At Shorncliffe

Situated above town of Folkstone - learning history

Of the 'Old Dozen' - his regiment with all its traditions.

Amid letters of 1915 - the date uncertain - yet written

In mid January - Lieutenant Charles Sorley wrote

From Shorncliffe, to say of alarming monotony,

Of his existence - how staleness affects the men

And officers alike - a reported lack of efficiency 

Meant they were unlikely to move for a time.

Days went swift but with nothing to show - living

For a future turned to the past - in habit of old men.

'War is chasm in time,' Charles defied the media's

Habit to claim 'war is ennobling purge' - only to cause

Unhappiness and lack of comforts - papers should

He felt, be muzzled - any illusion of war as splendour

Would need to be purged, after the end of the war.

Any leave was in abeyance, despite the inactivity -

He felt for his friend, with Oriel men mostly in khaki.

Charles made envy with his advantage of working

With his brain - his own felt stagnant - even any will

To learn French was absent - his mind stayed shut.

by Jamie Mann

 Anon., 1919. The Letters of Charles Sorley with a Chapter on Biography.

 Cambridge University Press.  Chapter 1 Biographical.

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