Poem ~ The Hand of Escape - Saturday, 7 November 1914

At an unnamed town,

In North West France,

Was a Hospital Base.

Being the scene,

Of a double mystery.

Soldiers of the Indian

Army arrived, to be

Treated for wounds.

All of which were,

In their left hands.

An Indian medic

Gave reasons why -

How the Indian troops

Engaged to fight

Prefer hand to hand.

This they do by grabbing

Hold of the enemy’s

Bayonet in their left

Hand, taking action by

With a right handed knife.

An equally puzzling

Query, was conveyed

By a Sergeant, from an

Unnamed Regiment,

Who fought in battle.

This sergeant was given

Frequent surprises,

As numbers of hands,

Rise above the edges

Of enemy’s trenches.

The reason provided,

Was from a wounded

German soldier, saying

That many among

His German compatriots,

Wished for the war’s end.

With no outcome

In sight, many seek

To get from the firing

Line - This they often

Tried to achieve.

Gaining a wound

To fingers or hand,

Is certainly painful,

But allows the man

To return home.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1914. Wounds in Hands – Two Mysteries Solved. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 7 Nov. p.13. Col.1. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11208721/Daily-Telegraph-November-7-1914.html [Accessed: 7 November 2014].

Mann, J., 2014. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 7 November 2014). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11208721/Daily-Telegraph-November-7-1914.html

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

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

Poem ~ Fisherman Spy - Saturday, 7 November 1914

Alexander Gordon, a Fisherman

At Grimsby, confessed to having

The German name of Aucherbach.

A married, he was charged with

Failing to register as an alien enemy.

Chief Constable Mr John Stirling,

Grimsby Police, spoke, knowing

Of this man’s ability to be deceiving.

Alexander Gordon, said his father

Had been a lecturer at Edinburgh

And Aberdeen Universities.

Previously Mr Gordon had been

In London and passed a medical

Degree - practising as a German

Doctor, but had been struck off.

A fluent English speaker Mr Gordon

Went to Lowestoft to enroll

As a steward on a mine sweeper –

For reasons when serving at sea,

His behaviours’ became suspicious

Mr Gordon was detained in custody.

Another officer, Detective Inspector

Dixon, of Grimsby Police, provided fact

Mr Gordon had a wife and two children,

And how he encountered the prisoner

In 1906  - having been born in Berlin

And once served In the British Army.

The prisoner told how he truly believed

How his father was a Scottish professor

Yet the stipendiary magistrate believed

That the evidence showed Him as German

How his fluent English made him dangerous

The outcome of the sentence was Mr Gordon

Sentenced to three months hard labour.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1914. The Alien Peril – Spy on Mine Sweeper. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 7 Nov. p.5. Col.5. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11208721/Daily-Telegraph-November-7-1914.html [Accessed: 7 November 2014].

Mann, J., 2014. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 7 November 2014). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11208721/Daily-Telegraph-November-7-1914.html

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

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

Poem ~ The Wrong Salute - Saturday, 7 November 1914

In the Ganlois paper, is mention

Of a young man, a Lorrainer -

A native of the Lorraine province

Of North Eastern France -

Who found himself serving against

His will in the German forces.

When wounded, he was given

Convalescent leave – when

He visited his Parisian friends.

The Lorrainer in Paris on Friday

Walked about the Grand Boulevards,

To come upon an officer in uniform

Of the French Artillery, seated

At a café terrace, whom he promptly

Saluted –the Lorrainer, accidently

Gave the automatic German salute,

Instead of the French mode. About

Correct his mistake, the officer

Saluted in the Germanic manner.

With suspicions raised he thought

Further on how the officer’s salute

Seemed stranger - the Lorrainer

Turned about – to find a policeman

Standing by a nearby street corner.

The young man asked if he might

Quiz the uniformed artillery officer,

As to his identity - yet the policeman

Had no power to make such action.

Deciding on his own course,

The young Lorrainer went across

To the Artillery officer, pushing him

Throwing his drink to the ground -

Prompting his defensive reaction.

The policeman then stepped over

And led them both to the station;

This being a plan of the Lorrainer.

On investigating was the discovery

That this artillery officer was a spy.

The defected German soldier, gained

Extended leave from military authority

(Assuming he had joined the French?)

The written reason of the note states,

He had contributed to arresting a spy.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1914. Betrayed by a Salute – A Smart Capture. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 7 Nov. p.12. Col.6. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11208721/Daily-Telegraph-November-7-1914.html [Accessed: 7 November 2014].

Mann, J., 2014. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 7 November 2014).

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11208721/Daily-Telegraph-November-7-1914.html

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

#WW1Paris #WW1 #WW1centenary #GreatWar #WW1poem #GreatWar #ww1centenary #worldwarone #worldwaroneremembered