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