Poem ~ Laconia Omen - Monday, 5 March 1917- Tuesday, 6 March 1917

Impression sketch of RMS Laconia by Jamie. See original images at:<http://www.tynebuiltships.co.uk/L-Ships/laconia1912.html>

With launch in 1911 RMS Laconia,

A Cunard Ocean Liner, was a young vessel

When war began in 1914 - built

At Wallsend Britain, by makers Swan Hunter

And Wigham Richardson Ltd.

Later commandeered for war

Service Laconia sailed to South Africa -

At Simon's Town, having then
Been fitted out as an armed Merchant

Crusier, with a new purpose.

The Laconia patrolled waters,

In Indian and South Atlantic Ocean,

From April 1915 - employed

As a headquarters, during the actions

To take on German East Africa.

Returning to Britain in June

1916, the Laconia again returned

To Service September 
1916 with Cunard - six months later

Laconia departed New York.

25 February 1917 on route

For Liverpool - the hour 9 O’clock when

The Laconia steamed west,

Northwest by Fastnet - aboard were

75 passengers and 217 crew.

Outnumbered by crew, only

A fraction of usual passengers travelled

Including Americans - time

Was almost 10 O’clock, when many

Travellers were yet to retire.

The crossing of the Atlantic

Had been uneventful - a passenger

Quizzed a London solicitor

Over chance of being torpedoed; '4000

To one,' said Henry Chetham.

A member of the British diplomatic

Service offered another opinion to state

'250 to 1, if we don’t meet a sub.'

An apt answer came along, creating

A sudden slam like a large door.

A lurch forwards and sideways

Under their feet, everyone jumped up.

A New Yorker commented.

To say It's a lousy torpedo, only a fizzer.'

A hit had been made starboard.

An explosion blew near the 
Engine room - the Laconia still floated. 

Captain Irvine's instructions for 
Safety saw orderly move to lifeboats

The U50 sub still close by.

Lifeboat drills now became

Real as five blasts on the ships whistle

Signalled an evacuation.

After 20 minutes another hit struck, full

On into the engine room.

The blast damaged a lifeboat

Being lowered into the water, in which

Sat two Americans - mother

And daughter; Mrs Mary Hoy along with

Elizabeth Hoy reached sea.

Now the Laconia began to list

Taking on water, as passengers and

Crew released more lifeboats.

Quickly sinking the Laconia's stern -

The nose of the vessel, dipped.

Then straight in the air; silently

The vessel slipped into dark waters,

10.20 p.m. within 30 minutes

Survivors rocked alone in their boats;

Not all had made it safely.

In sour silence the survivors

Saw a black, glinting wet shape move

Towards them - in darkness

An accented voice called out, 'vot ship

Was dot?' A reply called back.

A steward yelled, 'the Laconia,

Cunard Line' - the German voice gave

Casual reply; 'yov’ll

Be alright the patrol vill pick you up.'

The sub moved away.

Some six hours later Royal

Navy patrolled came across these

Drifting boats but not all

Had made it - 6 crew 6 passengers

Had become victims.

Boat No 8 had held 14 souls -

This had been badly damaged during

The torpedo hit, so as soon

As it touched water, the sea began

Dragging them down.

Survivor, Able Seaman Walley,

Told of hopelessness to try to bail any

Water out - yet it did not

Sink, but kept afloat by fact of holding

Tanks - he held on in the stern.

Everyone clung to the edge

Of the underwater boat - every swell

Whipped over the souls that

Held on - in the stern seats Mrs Hoy

And daughter stood in the boat.

Time passed, counted

By the cold waves that washed them

No. 8 - finally grey haired

Mrs Hoy lay back; daughter Elizabeth

Held her and talked away.

Likely her mind became

Lost as she held her dead mother.

Soon it was too much,

Left weak in body and her mind

As another swell came.

The two women wearing

Lifebelts and were swept away -

The frozen survivors left

With more corpses, stubbornly

Holding on until rescued.

Account by Floyd Gibbons

Told of the despair and struggles

In the sea, until encounter

Of a mine sweeper and a patrol

Boat found their pale lights.

Six hours had passed when

One after another they pulled aside

HMS Laburnum, where

Tattooed arms of jack tars reached

Out to the fortunate few.

The story of yet another

Lost sea vessel; although relatively

Few lives were lost - unlike

The Lusitania - the small act would

Have great effect in war.

by Jamie Mann.

Source: File: RMS Laconia. Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Laconia_(1911)> [Accessed 5 March 2017]

Source: File: Today in World War I - U-boat Sinks Laconia, Kills Two Americans. Available at: <http://today-in-wwi.tumblr.com/post/157711139713/u-boat-sinks-laconia-kills-two-americans> [Accessed 5 March 2017]

Source: File: The Sinking Of The Laconia, By Floyd Gibbons. Available at: <http://www.worldwar1.com/sflac.htm> [Accessed 5 March 2017]

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Poem ~ Invisible Ink of Spy Kuepferle - Saturday, 22 May 1915

Impression sketch of Mabel Elliott - by Jamie. Mabel worked as a censor in 1915 discovering the method of invisible ink used by Anton Kuepferle

The original can be seen at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-15679088

With varied spy trials gone before,

Came another that went on for some

Time - the events surrounded arrival

Of Anton Kuepferle - who was to say

He was Swiss and naturalised

American travelling from New York.

On14 February 1915 Kuepferle

Travelled onto Dublin then London -

The reason he would provide was

Purely business - his story to say

His trade was wool importer,

Based back in Brooklyn New York.

While travelling to Ireland and

England he had posted business

Letters - addressed to a neutral

Country on the continent - what

Had given him away was

Interception of a postal censor.

The letters had been investigated

And found between written English

Lines were other lines in German,

Written in invisible ink - descriptions

Were of British ships along with

Certain movements of allied troops.

An arrest was made within five

Days on 19 February, by DI Buckley.

The passport Kuepferle held was

From New York, as he swore travel

Was purely commercial based -

Kuepferle was to be put on spy trial.

With his valise searched on arrest,

Was found to contain elements

For creating invisible writing, along

With the same paper type as letters

Stopped - Kuepferle in military

Custody was held at London Tower.

Kuepferle was moved to Brixton

In favour of a civil court - during

Times of exercise, he interacted

With another German - a letter

Found on Kuepferle intended

To be passed onto that prisoner.

Written down were references

To war acts - the German uses

Of gas and how Kuepferle wished

To be at the front again - contents

Were obviously by a soldier,

Not a commercial business man.

In intentions to pass information

Useful to any enemy, of naval

Manoeuvres, Kuepferle charged

Under the Defence of the Realm,

Act - On Tuesday saw public

Hearing - Wednesday in secrecy.

The reason being for all interests

Of National safety - the trial was

Under a Civil Court, but Kuepferle

Was fearful of an outcome of death.

Inspections of his cell confinement

Were carried out every 15 minutes.

Within this time space Kuepferle

Wrote a message on a slate, then

Tied a scarf to a grill he stood on

A library book - with the other end

About his neck, he kicked book

Away - he could not be revived.

Kuepferle's last words said trial

Had been carried out fairly - all

He had done was for his country -

But could no longer take strains.

His ideal to be shot as a soldier
of rank, not to meet a spy's death;
So he took life by his own hand.

 by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1915. Dramatic End to Spy Trial. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 21 May. P.9. Col.7. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11608898/Daily-Telegraph-May-21-1915.html [Accessed: 22 May 2015].

Mann, J., 2015. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 22 May 2015). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11608898/Daily-Telegraph-May-21-1915.html

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Poem ~ Imminent Invasion - Sunday, 11 April 1915

Source: Invasion - Avon Tyres Advert. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 10 Apr. P.4. Col.5-7. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11520509/Daily-Telegraph-April-10-1915.html [Accessed: 11 April 2015].

With a countryside view in Wye Valley

Two men, two women look back,

Pointing down to Tintern Abbey -

Pausing in an open motorcar to show

The freedom of the open road.

Above hangs the word 'invasion.'

So what’s the bother about Germans

Invading the British county? - well

Why not invade it yourself, proclaims

Some cheery tyre tube called Bill.

With the continent well and truly

Closed to tourism, the guide makes

For 'stay-at-home holidays' -

Which is stated as not only patriotic

But is totally compulsory.

Bill the tube advises how Harogate,

Baden Baden or Bath can all be

Places of cures  - how Scottish glens,

Yorkshire moors and Surrey lanes

Can offer so much more.

Equal to any continental place

Is spring of any open English Road -

With the Lakes, Devon Forests

And mountains in an Emerald Isle -

Full of neglected charm.

Such is the fortune of the fortunate

Motorist - the chosen few whose

Money can be spent liberally -

So runs the advert for those

Who can afford good tyres.

Endurance, resilience and strong

Safety in the English sounding Avon

Tyres available in British towns, with

Solid types, ideal for trade vehicles;

The Avon India Rubber Company.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1915. Invasion -Avon Tyres Advert. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 10 Apr. P.4. Col.5-7. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11520509/Daily-Telegraph-April-10-1915.html [Accessed: 11 April 2015].

Mann, J., 2015. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 11 April 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 ~ Control of the Modern Army - Friday, 9 April 1915

Impression Sketch of Indian Army Signal Station, Field Telephones - By Jamie Mann. The original can be viewed at: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/529313762428768039/

In a modern approach to modern warfare,

Which had had never seen such a scale -

With battles on different fronts - across many

Different frontiers, any single control over

Any single battle, proved all but impossible.

Within this twentieth century war, a chain

Of command was set to organise openings

Followed by unfolding fighting - starting from

Central point of General Headquarters down

To the staff of each divisional headquarters.

Faced by separation of distances, how might

Then great battalions be controlled – where

Generals once rode on horseback, to stand

On high hills over valleys, directing battle

Lines below, was suddenly a thing of the past.

How then does the modern war system work?

Prior accounts had already roughly sketched

Out the commanding chains – yet a more

Detailed emergence of operations could

Give a command overview, as Neuve Chapple.

Standing back from panoramic viewpoints,

Of Generals picturesque commanding fields

Of cavalries in charging, hitting and charging

Again - changed to commands sat remotely

Back in safer headquarters armed with maps.

A commandeered farmhouse sets a Neuve

Chapple scenario in rooms to house General

Staff, set back some hundred yards behind

The lines of fire and gunnery commanders

Of Brigade within a short distance of the field.

Officers based in cellar shelters or dugouts,

In coordination of communications, to pass

To their battalion HQ by methods of runners,

Orderlies and telephone lines that trail out

To Divisional army and corps headquarters.

The only way for unit commanders making

Significant marks in any battle, is to deploy

Reserved fresh troops  - the practice being

To hold back such soldiers in readiness -

Modern war situation disallows direct control.

The hails of iron and lead that fell as curtains

Over their men, prompt needs for self-reliance

In operations - confusion of fighting in pocket

Sized country –outcomes became reliant on

Soldier resourcefulness and officer initiative.

Once troops charge and set in a direction

Makes for almost an impossibility to change

Their course – communications proving

Problematic - runners and orderlies are shot

As susceptible telephone wires can get cut

With men in midst of heavy fire precise

Situations are quickly unknown - only then

Can commanders engage reserves to sway

Battles to fill gap or flank a resistant strong

Hold or a force to push weary troops forwards

All is test for officers to make rapid decisions.

From theory to actuality was a picture to show

The practice of command of Neuve Chapple -

In a commandeered large farmhouse a mile

Behind the lines of fire – sat the headquarters

Close by a road stretches up to the house

Named HQ outside stand despatch riders

Next to their waiting machines in readiness

To convey messages - now and then one

Leaves as another arrives with a message.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1915. A Modern Battle – Great Responsibility by Regimental Leader – Control by Telephone. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 9 Apr. P.9. Col.7. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11514486/Daily-Telegraph-April-9-1915.html [Accessed: 9 April 2015].

Mann, J., 2015. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 9 April 2015). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11514486/Daily-Telegraph-April-9-1915.html

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

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