Poem ~ Civil and Soldier Travellers - Saturday, 31 July 1915

Impression sketch of a crowd saying goodbye to soldiers leaving Victoria Station in London, during World War I - by Jamie. See the originals at: http://www.vintag.es/2013/10/old-photos-of-world-war-i-in-1915.html#ixzz3hrtT2pAq

One war, like no other,

Brought social changes

In re-evaluations,

Of familiar institutions.

In just barely a year,

From one mans act,

By an assassination

Of some archduke.

In passage of slow days,

Came changed views -

As in one time of day

Sight of men in khaki.,

Who made up numbers

Of railway passengers,

Would have caused

A great speculation -

To become a regular

Presence - to cause

No more attention

Than city passengers.

Numbers of soldiers

Would then regularly

Outnumber others -

All railway stations.,

Became places akin

To military camps;

Boys carried bags as

Women took tickets.

All ordinary type folk,

Rubbed shoulders

Of men, who'd seen

War’s vicious effects.

Dust of western front,

Was likely to catch

On civilian clothing -

With foreign odours.

Hands held less books

To favour newspapers -

Becoming more norm

In the traveller's hands.

Some camaraderie,

Was almost tangible -

With man to man and

Chivalry toward woman.

Depiction of that state

Described as 'wonderful'

The changes to be seen

Over August holidays.

Stereotypes of men

Aboard trains, wrapped

In self, with new eyes

Open civility to those.,

Once disregarded -

While the tedium for

Tedious troop trips,

Relieved by a word.,

In honest good cheer -

While those deserved

Of sympathy, would be

Newly enlisted youth.

Youth in trepidation,

To report to stations -

New in dedicating one

Life to country's call.

Such train encounters,

Is call essential helping-

Hand to such heroes -

As them in the making.

By example, people may

Have given cheer, as in

Seasoned travellers,

Commercial businessmen.,

In weekly moves between

From Leeds, Manchester,

Southwards - might buy

Raw recruits a cup of tea.

One belief given is for

The fallacy that soldiers

All need fags  - as many

Did not actually smoke -

Prompting awareness

Of soldierly cultivation;

Many a man came from

Intelligent professions -

Deserved of intelligent

Conversations - to state

The sober behaviours

Of men turning to soldiers.

In rare drunk behaviour

The chivalrous recruit,

Can be seen to support

Women and children.

Men such as these,

Will ask permission

Of women to smoke

In such compartments.

Although tired from

Marching, they will easily

Stand throughout long

Journeys to free a seat.

A recruit's habit aboard

Is help little ones climb

Or leave their carriages

Additionally these youth.,

Finding dining cars

Might be devoid of food

Will easily resign selves

To their fate of hunger.

Thus is one articles hope

In influencing civilian

Bank holiday travellers

Of the khaki presence

How to support these

Men - not as hooligans

But simply splendid men

Journeying their way.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1915. Troops in Trains  - Civilian Interest. The Daily Telegraph, [online]  31 July. P.10. Col.7. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11773708/Daily-Telegraph-July-31-1915.html [Accessed: 31 July 2015].

Mann, J., 2015. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 31 July 2015). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11773708/Daily-Telegraph-July-31-1915.html

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

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Poem ~ A Break From Bombs - Friday, 30 July 1915

Source: File: Woolwich Royal Arsenal.jpg. World War One: Royal Arsenal's battle to feed the guns By Greig Watson BBC News, 5 June 2014. The Original can be seen at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-26272844 [Accessed:  30 July 2015].

With summer's seasons

Of holidays in full swing

Despite wartime - morale

Set to raise the Woolwich

Royal Arsenal workers.

With the August bank

Holiday set to combine

The traditional 'beano

Day,' granted by royal

Warrant of George III.

The Annual Beanfest

Day, commemorated

This king’s visit - 6 July

1773 - this had existed

Until Edwardian years.

Reinstated, the July

Day combined with

2 August - Sunday

In-between made for

Longest rest of war.

Out of the 40,000,

Some 3,000 would be

Still on duty, to carry

Out maintenance for

One years constant run.

While this great needed

Overhaul of well used

ammunition apparatus

is made, the workers will

Likely rest in their gardens.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1915. Woolwich Arsenal Holiday. The Daily Telegraph, [online]  29 July. P.10. Col.6. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11744429/Daily-Telegraph-July-29-1915.html [Accessed: 30 July 2015].

Mann, J., 2015. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 30 July 2015). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11744429/Daily-Telegraph-July-29-1915.html

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

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Poem ~ Hooge - Wednesday, 28 July 1915

Impression sketch of Hooge Crater  - by Jamie. See the original at: http://www.ww1battlefields.co.uk/flanders/hooge.html

East of Ypres sat Hooge,

On a ridge called Bellwaerde -

Here was the home of a house

Chateau de Hooge, destined

To be in midst of a war.

From the Flemish quiet,

Of days where the chateau

Stood, erased in sad erosion -

To crumble down to dust,

Never to be rebuilt.

A decisive attack decided

To take place, about this area

In order to improve allied lines -

Construction of a mine, made

To be detonated at 7 p.m.

A Middlesex regiment lay

Opposite 126^th Wurtemburge

Regiment - backed by 66^th Artillery

Of German Forces – tensely

Waiting officer's signal.

Once the massive charge

Exploded, the infantry would

Rush ahead to gain occupation

Of the crater - at a distance

Platoons awaited action.

A Middlesex battalion, set

With bayonet fixed - reserve

Troops were readied in support -

The ground between them

And enemy, lay debris.

The hour shattered in

Sudden force as the earth

Flew - to throw men off their feet;

Melting German trenches

To dust, as spoilage fell.

A gaping space opened

Enemy’s neat breastwork

Out - smoke and dust emanated -

Wounded, with mainly dead

Germans lay all about.

In seconds, whistles

Blew and the Middlesex

Lifted into a smoldering inferno,

To meet stunned survivors;

With little resistance.

Bombers came after

The assault line, setting out

To progress - turned the crater

Into to allied defences, while

Bombers split into three.

Storming down three

Each trench path to drive

Back Germans that might still

Shelter; followed by soldiers,

Armed by fixed bayonets.

A gift of bombs aimed

In every dugout, only when

A traverse is made, is lobbed

Another - explosions are 

Followed by bayonets.

Such action needs

A flow of bomb supplies,

As the vulnerable bomber man,

Runs the risk of being hit,

Before he gets a target.

In an orchestra of this

Action-run-lob-halt-bayonet,

Agility is needed for progress,

Down any narrow spaces,

Of blocks and wounded.

Those bombers under

Lead of Lieutenant Erskine,

Who, taking part in operation

Came to defended dugout;

He used a pick to enter.

Hacking the roof in order

To throw a bomb, Lieutenant

Erskine had almost achived this

When a shot hit him down;

A fatal wound to his chest.

As daylight failed, action

Of bombing began to halt -

In retaliation, the minenwerfers

Woke, to toss high explosives

Into the occupied crater.

The minenwerfers named

Variously as ariel torpedoes

Gained more friendlier names;

As sausages and Rum-Jars,

In likeness to rum rations.

A night's bombardment

Continued to fade, with day

Counterattacks proving to be

Inadequate - with German

Reluctance to return.

With empathetic limits

To know the effects of loss

Of mates by a man's side - still

It seemed how the Tommy

Calmly kept to his duty.

An officer stopped, spoke

To one man at danger point

Asking how matters were going -

A reply of few aimed at them;

Unaware of any that did hit.

As replacements came,

To take over those exhausted

Troops - German shell batteries

Continued - parapets reversed,

And broken wire repositioned.

Hooge’s crater gave small

Extension to the allied front -

A stalemate was still held, as spits

Of counter attack against

Other counter attacks.

As activity settled back

Into routine, another salient,

South of Hooge, was hit by a mine

Knocked enemy’s hold - whose

Counter mine made no effect.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1915. Attack at Hooge Position - Enemy Trench Mined - Daring Bomb Throwers. The Daily Telegraph, [online]  26 July. P.10. Col.6. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11742053/Daily-Telegraph-July-26-1915.html [Accessed: 28 July 2015].

Mann, J., 2015. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 28 July 2015). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11742053/Daily-Telegraph-July-26-1915.html

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

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Poem ~ 'Land of the Cursed Water' - Thursday, 22 July 1915

Impression sketches Canal at Boesinghe entrance to Ypres before and during war - by Jamie. See the originals at: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/36213/36213-h/36213-h.htm

An official French communication,

From 10 July 1915, gave information

Of further failed German attacks,

About the Yser canal – a wounded

French solider had provided a picture.

The German perspective of a ‘Land

Of cursed waters,' was given by one

Captured German. From their place

On right bank, here enemy made hold.

While all German caution had been

Taken, word reached French command

Of enemy preparations, for full attack -

With this information the French were

Prepared and ready for such an assault.  

9 July opened, with dawn of German

Gas bombs on the French left bank.

After the gas bombs, at 9 a.m. massed

German force provided little surprise.

An enemy formed a funnel attack over

The old stone bridge of Boesinghe -

Previously having made heavy attempt

In October 14 - chain bridges slung

Across, about the bridge of Yser canal.

Some shallow water allowed a waded

Crossing  - thus the German made

A tenuous hold on the French side -

Then confident, to be given new orders.

German troops were to take French

Second line trenches, a short distance

On - by then the bridges streaming

With German grey setting to reinforce

Their hold on the left bank of the Yser.

At a stage when a Bavarian Company

Filled the bridge, their luck halted in hit

By French 75’s - within moments bridge

Heads hit to fall into waters below,

With many Bavarians amid broken stone.

With crossing destroyed, more attempts

Of German chain bridges were hurriedly

Thrown across, amidst French counter

Attacks of Belgian and French Marines

Fixed bayonets, out to clear the left bank.

Chaos took over within German Lines -

They struggled, falling in their attempts

To assist two of their stranded battalions;

French 75's re focused on sappers work.

Under French fire they abandoned

Materials, if those soldiers were not hit

They fell to submerge in the canal depth;

Survival became nearly impossible,

'In the land of the cursed water.'

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1915. Fighting at Boesinghe – Germans Trap. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 22 July. P.10. Col.2. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11739263/Daily-Telegraph-July-22-1915.html [Accessed: 22 July 2015].

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

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11739263/Daily-Telegraph-July-22-1915.html

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

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Poem ~ German Food, Turkish Flies - Thursday, 15 July 1915

Impression sketch of NZ Medical Corps soldiers under Red Cross flag - by Jamie. 

See the original at: http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/media/photo/soliders-gallipoli-red-cross-flag

From employment of Reuters,

A Reporter made experiences

With the ordinary soldier from

Gallipoli. Comparison begins,

With what is rainwater, shells

And mud to the western front - 

Sun heat and flies are part

Of the Gallipoli experience.

Time, over prior two months

Had a bleaching relentless sun.

That hung unbroken in the sky

Devoid of cloud or rains - only,

Exception had been two tropical

Night storms - such high drying,

Hard weather was likely to carry

On for another two months more.

For the pale skinned Britisher,

Now at this continent, will be

More sun he would have seen,

Than in any of the previous two -

Years spent at home in Britain.

The languor of Asiatic breezes

Skimmed across the alien lands

In shimmer of a lazy heat haze. 

Men urged willing relief for an

English North Easterly breeze.

While such heated conditions

Are more normal for soldiers,

Of Egypt and Australia. A trend

In the heat for open neck shirts -

With Envy of Gurkhas who then

Exposed lower limbs in shorts.

Shorts still worn with puttees,

Allowed air to circulate - less

Shocking than English knees

Until tanned by a heated sun.

Those who could not get hold

Of 'sun knickers' improvised,

By cutting off trouser legs; such

Men became classified as a nut.

For some in a further enterprise

Were men who made a hem -

The fashion conscious for shorts

With a turn up - disadvantages,

To this look came in populations

Of local flies, that had tendency

To swarm and crawl any exposed

Anatomy; always irritation of flies.

The most annoying of presence;

Flies of Gallipoli – perhaps more

So than the Turks themselves.

An absence of the lord was taken,

By beeelzebub, who employed

Vermin  - all foods placed on table

For more than a few moments,

Turned foul black with movement.

Flies, big and bloated sought

More and when jam appeared

On the menu - as it often did,

A man was required speed,

To get jam rapidly into mouth.

A letter sent to supplies, noted

This Reuters man, tells supply

A need for dull coloured jams.

Khaki Jams, such as apricotm

To avoid attraction of airborne

Devil, sending men to madness.

For those who try to catch rest,

In midday dug outs to avoid

Fly swarms - flies that swarmed

On army waste and the unburied,

Between opposing trenches.

Flies that flick about faces and

Exposed flesh; flies enflamed

Tempers - increasing suffering

Of the wounded- even a breeze,

Blowing off the straits hardly

Touched flies -to fly in wind's teeth.  

Whenever a gale caught a swarm

Out to sea – the air would darken,

Like some pending plague - black

Swoops back the devil's Diptera -

In spite of flies armies in Gallipoli

Is described as solidly healthy -

Added to the biscuits and bully

Beef, a variety was then added

With fresh bread and arrival

Of Frozen meat from Australia.

Foods included potatoes, onions

As other supplies are provided 

For - as with adequate cigarettes,

Whose quantities not as many,

As they would like - demands

were more paper and envelopes -

A Greek run 'restaurant' provided

Additional variety to their diets.

Greeks supplied butter and milk -

While many prices were beyond

Means of some Tommy’s, they

Could buy canned vegetables,

Or fruit - this Reuters agent knew

Of one Tommy, in much umbrage,

Having parted for a shilling, a can

Of milk to find it was German.

Another time a box of cigarettes

Appeared on which was stamped

An English esquire who was

German - other cigarettes seen,

Were made expressly for one hun,

'Sache-Feldartillerie Regiment

Nr 68 '- described as a very poor

Standard wishing that Rgt. many.

One rarity was the appearance

Of newspapers - leading to locally

Made local daily paper 'Peninsula

Press' supplied to the battalions,

In order to keep abreast of wider

War, each fighting government

Are covered - even to learn what

Happens close along Turkish front.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1915. A Soldier's Life at the Dardanelles - Plague of Flies - German Made Luxieries. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 15 July. P.11. Col.1. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11732049/Daily-Telegraph-July-15-1915.html [Accessed: 15 July 2015].

Mann, J., 2015. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 15 July 2015). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11732049/Daily-Telegraph-July-15-1915.html

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

#WW1 #WW1centenary #GreatWar #WW1poem #GreatWar #WW1centenary #worldwarone #worldwaroneremembered #WW1Gallipoli