Poem ~ First VC's of Indian Army - Tuesday, 08 December 1914

 Source: File: Darwan Sing Negi.jpg, Subterranean Sepoys -A Radio Play about Life in the Trenches for the Indian Army on the Western Front. [online] Available at: <http://trenchindians.com/sepoys-in-wwi/#sthash.0hFydd0o.dpbs> Accessed: 8 December 2014].

  Source: File: Khudadad Khan.jpg, Khudadad Khan, Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [online] Available at: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khudadad_Khan > Accessed: 8 December 2014].

With the King-Emperor’s approval,

Members of the Indian army Corps,

Were awarded the Victoria Cross -

To be the first for just gallantry,

In the Indian Expeditionary army.

In the 1^st Battalion of 39^th Garwal Rifles

Naik Darwan Singh Negi was posted

Near Festubert, France –

During the night of 23-24 November,

The regiment set to make clear,

And retake some occupied trenches.

In a strategy that would become

Standard, the Garwal rifles

Attacked, to flank either side

Of one occupied trench –

They moved down and in -

Firing, bombing and bayoneting

To clear away their enemy.

With the first, Naik Darwan Singh Negi

Stepped forward, about each curve

Of the trench - under return fire from

Rifle and grenades, at close range.

Naik Darwan Singh Negi fought,

Despite being wounded twice,

In the head and in the arm -

By fight's end the man was seen,

Covered from head to foot,

Quite stained with his blood.

The VC for Naik Darwan Sing Negi

Given for great gallantry fighting

In face of enemy - on 5 December,

King George V had asked Negi

What he might do for him.

Came an unhesitant reply

For a homeland request.

Where he lived -

There were no schools.

Might one be made?

The process of this appeal,

Was immediately begun.

On 31 October in Belgium,

The onslaught of the Germans,

To gain French ports,

First had to get around Ypres,

The Belgium town.

129^th Duke of Connaughts

Own Baluchis had arrived

And rushed out to support,

The pressured British -

With two companies,

Stationed in  Hollebeke Sector

About the village of Gheluvelt.

Still outnumbered, companies

Suffered increasing casualties.

Two machine gun teams

Had been kept operational,

Throughout the day -

Halting enemy breakthroughs.

One man of Sepoy rank,

Khudadad Khan.

Found himself in great adversity.

One machine gun fell from action,

Hit by a shell, while a British

Detachments Officer was wounded.

The machine gun position,

Was then overrun and the men,

Fell under bayonets and bullets -

With the exception of Sepoy Khan,

Who was left for dead.

Alone and badly wounded,

The Sepoy stayed at his station,

Until night – despite his wounds,

crawling back To his regiment.

Due to his, and the Baluchis actions,

The Germans were held back,

Until British and Indian reserves,

Arrived - thereby the line,

Was fully strengthened

And the ports safety ensured.

Sepoy Khudadad Khan,

Was the first South Asian

To receive the Victoria Cross -

On the same day as

Naik Darwan Singh Negi.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1914. India’s First VC’s -Gallant Deeds. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 8 Dec. p.8. Col.6. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11275709/Daily-Telegraph-December-8-1914.html [Accessed: 8 December 2014].

Mann, J., 2014. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 08 December 2014). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11275709/Daily-Telegraph-December-8-1914.html

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

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Poem ~ Earnings of a Lady Typist - Friday, 6 November 1914

No other class of women workers,

Than girl typists - had felt the harder

Pinching effects on them from war.

Closure of the Stock Exchange

And other financial business’

Caused cause a great demise

In employment of many women.

The end of English Agents offices,

In the trade for foreign goods,

Has also added to the big effect.

Finding themselves in a pitiful plight,

With promise of a dreary winter ahead,

Were ladies with any other skills.

The National Patriotic Association

Chairman, Sir George Pragnell,

Devised a particular scheme -

By his knowledge of organising,

Of the wholesale drapery trade.

Knowing of strains in manufacturing

Sir Pragnell had insight to see 300,000

Army webbed belts being quickly used.

The Queen's appeal to all the women

Of the Empire, had well met the target

For the patterned belt - with more needed.

Sir Pragnell's keen and able abilities

Convinced the War Office for the best

Belt pattern would be the French -

Made of double flannel, was a protective,

Warm field garment, for all their soldiers.

Progress came with the Committee,

On Unemployment and a War Office

Contract, for such garments.

The easily crafted belts, could provide,

Opportunities for any girl typists

With no effect on workers,

In any other current industries.

Word spread as wild fire in the city,

Of exclusive employment for girls,

Provided by the Patriotic Association.

At their offices at St Paul's Churchyard,

Came the call - hand or machine sewers

Aimed at lady typists out of work -

Or any other means of livelihood.

On production of good references,

Each applicant was given a card

To complete; name, statement,

Typing skills and shorthand speed,

And knowledge of sewing possessed.

Each girl given enough cloth to make,

Four belts at home overnight – returned

To earn them 3d each, if finished well.

These belts were formed of flannel straps

Being 1 and 1/2 yards in total length -

Wider at the front, tapering at the ends.

Two lengths of the flannel - to be neatly

Sewn together, with stout webbing, either

End - making with an over sewn slit upon

One side, for the other end to pass through,

Giving an adaptable belt, for any sized man.

In satisfactory receipt of said made belts,

The sewer received another bundle of ten-

In completing these, receiving a half crown.

The process repeats for 5 days a week -

So 12s and 6d can be earned, it’s believed.

Any able girl can make two belts per hour.

While those with a sewing machine

Can complete one every 20 minutes.

Each belt is expertly checked -

Attention made to the webbings strength.

200 girls are then daily employed

Between them making 2000 belts daily,

With a grand total of 10,000 per week.

Continued preparations are needed

For men in the field and in training.

So needs for these are likely to last.

Supplies of flannel start to shrink

With requisitions of the navy arm -

As Red Cross, Russia and France

Make requisition for woollen goods -

So is the need to build reserves.

This process creates growth

Of registering girls for work -

When a young man answers

His country's call, a girl is chosen

To take his place -for some organisers'

It is a surprise how many ladies

Possess exceptional abilities.

An employer requesting a girl with able 

Knowledge of figures – after an hour’s exam

One girl’s skills changed a city man’s mind.

Another lady proved her worth; a rapid

Shorthand writer of Spanish and French. 

Viscountess St Cyres, representing

Association of Women Clerks,

And Secretaries joined panel for

Professional Classes War Relief Fund.

Her purpose; to find women clerks

Work in their profession - with particular

Attentions given to highly trained,

And most competent women.

Funds from one philanthropist provided

Trained secretaries for schemes

Of public relief  - that might have

Only found volunteers or untrained clerks.

On occasions when work cannot be found,

Younger members are to be trained,

For other posts in colonies or elsewhere.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1914. Girl Typists - Scheme of Paid Work. The Daily Telegraph. [online] 6 Nov. p.4. Col.1-2 . Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11208699/Daily-Telegraph-November-6-1914.html [Accessed: 6 November 2014].

Mann, J., 2014. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 6 November 2014). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11208699/Daily-Telegraph-November-6-1914.html

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

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Poem ~ Sky Accident - Friday, 6 November 1914

Farnborough,

At the Royal Aircraft Factory,

In the evening of Thursday

Fifth November,

A terrible Incident occurred.

The factory was staffed

By those undertaking

Development of aircraft.

Mr Busk being one

Of the staff, decided

To take a flight during

The late afternoon, into dusk.

Standing at the aerodrome,

A colleague observed

His progress - when he saw

A stream of sparks coming

From the rear of the craft.

At this point it was realised

The pilot had shut down

The engine - from about

700 feet, he took a steep

Volplane, to the ground.

With the craft falling swiftly

In this flight, the sparks turned

Quickly to flames - when still

At height the plane fell, tumbling

In a ball of fire crashing,

In the midst of Laffan’s Plain,

A mile or so away.

At once, an ambulance,

Fire extinguisher and

Emergency breakdown car,

Raced out to the plain -

To find, on reaching the spot,

There was nothing

They could do but watch.

The burning machine,

Was impossible to get near,

Until it was almost reduced

To ash – the body of Mr Busk

Being found terribly charred.

A cordon was made about

The scene, by military Police.

The aviator's sad remains,

Taken to Connaught Hospital.

While the debris of the craft,

Was gathered and moved

To the factory, to be examined,

For what had gone wrong.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1914. Airman Burnt to Death. The Daily Telegraph. [online] 6 Nov. p.8. Col.7. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11208699/Daily-Telegraph-November-6-1914.html [Accessed: 6 November 2014].

Mann, J., 2014. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 6 November 2014). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11208699/Daily-Telegraph-November-6-1914.html

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

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Poem ~ Death in the Fog - Friday, 6 November 1914

In correction of previous

Accounts, is the report

Of a Sub–Lieutenant,

Of the Royal Naval Reserve;

Mr Petchell Burt Murray -

From Worsley Manchester,

And his unfortunate death.

In September having joined,

The Flying Corps Naval wing,

Sub - Lieutenant Murray,

Became a pupil at the Upavon

Central Flying School.

In training he had been

Seen to have remarkable

Proficiency, by limited experience.

On 5 November, this officer

Was sent up by his Instructor,

Making an early morning flight.

The weather was at first clear. 

But while flying, a dense fog

Formed - making for anxieties.

Such poor conditions would

Create a dangerous descent.

On Carlton Down, a shepherd,

Looking after his flock of sheep,

Stood within the shroud of fog.

Came the noise of an aircraft,

Within the stillness of that mist,

The eerie drone of that machine,

Surrounded the watching shepherd.

Looking about, he saw a break

In the grounded cloud - with

The swift movement of the plane -

Possibly the pilot was confused, 

Lost as where to land - the noise

Moved on. The shepherd seeing

To his flock, soon after heard,

The noise of a deathly crash.

It was some time before the mist

Dispersed revealing craft and pilot.

Lieutenant Murray was found, quite still

Strapped in the body, of the craft,

His neck had been neatly broken.

The aircraft nose was embedded,

 At a depth in the ground, leading

To the probability that he had

Been unable to regulate a descent.

The ground being hidden by fog

Upon his fall of 100 mph rate.

The verdict was accidental death.

In a tribute, the coroner valued

Such services of British Aviators.

Lieutenant Murray, in this war,

Had given his life for his country -

As if he had died in the trenches;

The Lieutenant was 20 years old.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1914. Naval Airman Killed  - Flight in a Fog. The Daily Telegraph. [online] 6 Nov. p.5. Col.5. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11208699/Daily-Telegraph-November-6-1914.html [Accessed: 6 November 2014].

Mann, J., 2014. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 6 November 2014). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11208699/Daily-Telegraph-November-6-1914.html

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

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