Poem ~ The Dead Stand Up - Friday, 30 October 1914

On the 29^th day of battle Lieutenant

T.H. Watson explains to a lady friend,

That rather than a battle, they are

Almost taking part in a campaign.

The 2^nd Worcestershire Regiment

Began their part on 13 September

And remained in the front line,

For a total of eight days, then moved

Away to rest – they found shelter

Out on a farm until they were shelled.

Lieutenant Watson described,

How he then lived as a nomad.

Staying in one village during the day

To spend the night in another village,

Until finally they returned to the front.

The Guards Brigade, with the artillery

And his Worcestershire Regiment,

Captured eight guns – who had lost

Some 500 men within the woods –

One enemy gun suddenly stopped

Firing - later they found that a shell,

Had ripped off the gunners head.

The following day rained heavy

As heavy – they found a barn

Half full of straw, open on all sides,

In which they buried themselves.

Lieutenant Watson on waking

The next morning found a heavy

Quarter master-sergeant,

Pinned on him, so he could not

Move - still soaked on waking,

The rain was then joined by wind.

Remaining there until the evening,

They moved to the German positions

Encountering a patrol where three

Men Were hit – they found the field

Covered with Germans, dead, dying

And wounded – they came to a trench

Where 30 Germans stood, their rifles

On the parapet, but all were dead.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1914. Battle Stories – Standing Upright, but Dead. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 30 Oct. p.3. Col.6. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11186087/Daily-Telegraph-October-30-1914.html [Accessed: 30 October 2014].

Mann, J., 2014. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 30 October 2014). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11186087/Daily-Telegraph-October-30-1914.html

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

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Poem ~ Night Fighting on the Aisne - Tuesday, 29 September 1914

From a Battalion of the Royal Irish Fusiliers,

A Lance-corporal recounts a night attack

On the Aisne. After a hard day in the trenches

The men were tired and wet to the skin.

So in order to dry out tunics they lit fires.

All at once came flashing firing along the line,

And like ‘mad-men’ Germans rushed

Forward, from out of the darkness.

The Fusiliers fought back in shirtsleeves.

Close proximity made hand-to-hand combat,

Very hard work, in employment of bayonets.

In darkness the enemy, supported by cavalry

Who charged in force to run them down.

The Fusiliers held them off, until support

Of infantry and allied cavalry arrived,

And succeeded in driving them away.

During the fight a competition occurred,

Between Lancer regiment and Battalion,

As to who could get at the Germans first.

Despite the Irish Battalion lack of horses,

They won in the end - running at German

Hordes with trained shouting and bayonets.

Then the Lancers followed and the Germans,

Were cleared away from their front line.

Worse was still to follow for the French.

The Germans, back in strength, had massed,

Across a front position, where they faced

A mass of French infantry, who now advanced.

In the night, at the double, made for the enemy,

But suddenly German batteries opened up,

From the shelter of woods - letting loose

With shrapnel showers and machine guns.

The long French line wavered and contracted.

This corporal saw the worst sight with sounds,

Of shells slicing through the close packed

French ranks - Men went down like grass,

Under a scythe - a hundred fell and more

Until the mass opened up in extended order.

The French still rushed at the enemy guns,

Despite at each step under heavy attack,

By relentless German cavalry and infantry

Until finally the French silenced the guns.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1914. Battle Stories - Fight with Bayonets - Silencing the Guns. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 29 September. p.5. Col.4. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11124060/Daily-Telegraph-September-29-1914.html [Accessed: 29th September 2014].

Mann, J., 2014. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 29th September 2014). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11124060/Daily-Telegraph-September-29-1914.html

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

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Poem ~ The Besiege of Soissons - Tuesday, 22 September 1914

During their advance on the Marne,

Germans are seen to have fully

Entrenched themselves - formidably,

Into solid ground - anchored by

Concreted emplacements and gun-pits,

Of formidable strength - as explained

By a collective of French Engineers.

Within these cemented bases

Are fierce 16-inch howitzers.

Numbering possibly fifty,

Of the artillery, whose range

Is longer than the Allies.

Similar to their experiences

In South Africa, with a crippling

Lack of artillery power.

Yet all is balanced by the courage,

Of battery crews fighting,

To the last man's determined aim.

Attacks and counter attack,

Waged on for 6 days and 6 nights.

Blasting most heavy at night,

Against the British who take

The brunt of this fighting.

While the casualty list grows,

Each time the enemy come on,

They are forced back with

Grit of determined British steel.

The town of Soissons receives,

The full force of twenty attacks,

And counter attacks - over

24 hours, -the Allies being

Cool headed, decide the enemy

As lacking fighting spirit -

In taking five prisoners,

The Germans begged for mercy -

Yet their force collectively,

Are solidly more formidable.

The artillery of the enemy

Being credited with efficiency.

Except their shells often lack

Explosions, due to poor fuses.

German range finding is helped

By numbers of their aeroplanes.

Flying over the lines bombs fall

On Allies - within 20 minutes,

Is made a barrage of accuracy.

Still in the clothes of civilians,

Are hurriedly recruited French

Postal Telegraph Engineers.

Their belief of fifty howitzers

And siege guns are reasons,

For plugging up the line.

For the long days and nights,

The English are given praise,

By French of  'Le phlegme.'

A vital sticking power before

The hammering of morale.

This stands against the change

Of a weeks weather, where

The allied trenches stand

Waist deep in water -

A sign of things to come-

'Pitiless and incessant' rain

Marked with chilling winds

Coming from N.E. and N.W.

How true is it believed,

That 'Tommy Atkins',

The every man soldier,

Thinks of it all as the 'Beano.'

All a party, to stick it out -

Examples of officer pluck,

Is one of who, had slept,

Beneath shelter of a haycock.

Thought himself very lucky,

As he gives considerations,

To German white elephants,

Of their siege guns being

Stuck heavily in the mud.

In opposing idea of Germans

Needing music bands to rouse

Their men to fight - the British

Troops - need only the shriek

Of shells and thunder of guns,

In their plight - while battle rage

Is for advantages of high ground

Making the north bank of the Aisne,

Will be more decisive than the Marne

In spite of strengthened positions,

The Germans are forced to give

Up ground - against their intention,

For a wedge forced between allies,

In a blow for the fight for Paris.

With the headquarters of the enemy

Believed to be in Mons, regiments

Are advancing through Belgium,

As part of that plan - but the men

Are weary, again the statement

Of German pleasure of capture.

Grit of the British and elan of French

Will soon be added the vigour of India,

And more of the overseas Dominions.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1914. Shelling Soissons - Artillery Duel. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 22 Sept. p.6. Col.6. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11109694/Daily-Telegraph-September-22-1914.html[Accessed: 22nd September 2014].

Mann, J., 2014. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 22 September 2014). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11109694/Daily-Telegraph-September-22-1914.html

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

#WW1 #WW1centenary #GreatWar #WW1poem #GreatWar #ww1centenary #worldwarone #worldwaroneremembered 

Ruins of Saint Jean des Vignes Abbey, Soissons 2006