Poem ~ Villages Devastated - Friday, 20 April 1917

Source: File: The destruction of the church in Moÿ-de-l'Aisne, February 1917. Available at: <http://02610.moy.free.fr/Moydelaisne/02610.moy/Infos/Municipalite/Moyquand/N23/Lanciers.html> 
[Accessed 18 April 2017]

With the western front in France,

Reaching its 35th week in 3rd

Year of war, devastation of lives

Of the population had no conclusion.

Between the invasion of Germany

Taking over ground of Aisne

And reunification of that area,

Came reports of great annihilation.

Making a visitation of the retaken

Region, Chairman of the Aisne

Refugee Committee D.Camp,

Learned of systematic destruction.

Eleven French towns and villages

Were wiped off the map -

The occupiers had used

Variations of means in process.

Battering rams had been built

To destroy ancient town

Walls; dynamite, petrol tar

All employed to take down houses.

Exteriors of churches still stood

But all contents taken,

Graveyards lay broken -

Opened vaults emptied to bury own.

Some 25 miles from Laon town,

Lay Ugny le Gay - little

More than a hamlet

Of 234 people, lay in persecution.

Germans made tax of exactions.

First demanded monies

February 1915; £140.00 -

The same demand again in August.

September 1915 saw how the Mayor

Of Ugny le Gay and others

Were imprisoned, until

Payment of £500.00 were handed over.

October 1915, £200 fee equivalent

In francs was demanded -

12 months later, October

1916, another extortion sum of £1500.

When finally the Germans were forced

From the area, the people

Found their possessions

Had been seized, pillaged and abused.

Young girls of the village were taken

Away - villagers disinterred as

Germans set homes on fire

Destroying machinery and fruit trees.

Any French people who returned to their

Villages, would have struggled

To see where their homes had

Once stood; to see crushed stone piles.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1917. Devastated France. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 9 April March 1917. P.6. Col.5. Available at: <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12214440/Daily-Telegraph-April-9-1917.html> [Accessed: 20 April 2017].

Mann, J., 2016. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 20 April 2017). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12214440/Daily-Telegraph-April-9-1917.html

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

#WW1 #WW1centenary #GreatWar #WW1poem #GreatWar #WW1centenary #worldwarone #worldwaroneremembered #WW1France

Poem ~ Nurses Escape Salonika - Wednesday, 1 December 1915

Source: File: Hospital work in Serbia. jpeg, [online] Available at: <http://www.inverclydeww1.org/topics/women-at-war> Accessed: 1 December 2015].

To provide assistance to Serbian forces

Against Bulgarian forces, two brigades

Of Franco-British troops landed Salonica,

In October 1915 - prompted by prime

Minister of Greece - only to arrive too late.

From out of the situation, two nurses

Of the Red Cross told their tales -

Salonica 30 November, to arrive there

With nothing but clothes they wore -

All kit left abandoned on Prizrend road.

The English nurse, sister Miss Lewis

Along with miss Annandale - South

African Matron - were in a Red Cross

Unit, attached to Second Serbian army -

That had defended Serbian town Pirot.

Despite the town likely to fall to forces

Of Bulgaria, the nurses wanted to stay

With the wounded, but a commander

Insisted they leave with the retreating

Army - to abandon all injured soldiers.

They left with the retreat, the day prior

To Pirot's fall to all Bulgarian forces -

Annandale and Lewis told of bravery

Of Serbs - where wounded conveyed

In bullock carts made no complaints.

The matron could not forget the harsh

Manner of retreat, with six members

Of the Red Cross unit - in their running

Short of food had at one point, a single

Small black loaf shared between them.

To reach Libra - where Naval detachment

Of the British, shared out their rations.

Behind them they had left all equipment;

Tents worth £1000 and instruments

Of £300 - along with all the transport cars.

On that road of retreat, the Red Cross

Unit saw and passed the littered dead

And wounded - without a possibility to

Help them - such experiences decided

Their assistance to help in the Balkans.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1915. The Retreat from Invaded Serbia - Heroic Serb Wounded. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 1 December. P.9. Col.2. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12019592/Daily-Telegraph-December-1-1915.html [Accessed: 1 December 2015].

Mann, J., 2015. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 1 December 2015). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12019592/Daily-Telegraph-December-1-1915.html

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

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Poem ~ Mongrel Hero - Sunday, 31 October 1915

Impression sketch of Zouave's mongrel dog  - by Jamie

Situated in the Ile e France and the eastern

Suburbs of Paris, lay Nogent Sur Marne,

Close to the commune Maison Blanche -

A quiet name for an asylum house.

With peace gone by 1914, all these

Inmates were relocated to Brittainy -

For Maison Blanche to take a new role

In the recovery of disabled French soldiers.

The number of 750 men became residents,

Whose recovery involved expeditions,

In friends motor cars to Paris centre -

Only 10 kilometres away - lost limbs,

Did not stop their cheerfulness.

As they could be seen in the Paris

Streets as something ‘pathetic’ - yet

They prove their resilient to conditions.

Within Maison Blanche, those soldiers

That were, worked in a workshop

And learned to adapt in trades.

A man who had lost both legs,

Along with his right and left

Hands, except the thumb, learned

To hold a brush between the stump

And thumb in order to paint pottery.

By this method he began to earn a

A small income - while another

Man, having been a sculptor

Stonemason, used plaster,

In making models with his left

Hand he worked with comrades

To number four - all with both arms

To produce work in making 10f a day.

Another resident of the Maison Blanche

Was a mongrel dog, who lived there

With his disabled master, a Zouave

Who had been in light infantry.

Coming from Algeria, at wars

Start, he insisted on taking his

Dog with him to the French front -

Both lived together in the trenches.

The Zouave, in rank of sergeant, one

Night went on a reconnaissance

Mission, with six other men -

Close to a heavy explosion,

The seven men became buried

Beneath a mass of earth - by some

Sense in missing his master, the dog

Left the trenches to seek this Zouave.

In realisation his master was in danger,

The mongrel found the place where

Where they were buried and began

To dig - until he found his master.

Seeing the shrapnel wound on

His leg, the dog instinctively began

To lick this – which the surgeons later

Said had prevented onset of gangrene.

Popular with all the soldiers, this dog

Proved a good poacher, in catching

Hares – close by, some stretcher

Bearers heard his dog barking,

With howling yelps – to believe

That he had caught another hare.

So that these men went out to find

The dog guarding the Zouave and men.

The party brought back all wounded

Soldiers to safety - The injured

Zouave taken to a hospital

To have a leg amputated.

Distraught for the company

Of his companion, the Zouave

Insisted his dog was brought to

Him, or that he would let himself die.

With the operation done the dog

Slept on his bed, then together

They lived at Maison Blanche

The Zouave with one leg.

Described as a curious looking

Animal, the Zouave told that there

Was in him a breed of a pointer, along

A fox terrier and another mystery strain.

The mongrel dog of Maison Blanche, wore

A silver collar and medal, presented by

The Blue Cross - with intelligent eyes

He was a heroic mongrel amid men.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1915. The Zouave's Dog. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 29 October. P.11. Col.4. Available at:  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11955418/Daily-Telegraph-October-29-1915.html  [Accessed: 31 October 2015].

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

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11955418/Daily-Telegraph-October-29-1915.html

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

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Poem ~ Stealing From The Dead - Satuday, 30 October 1915

Source: File: British Military Kit.jpeg [online] see original image at: <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-one/11006139/Inventories-of-war-soldiers-kit-from-1066-to-2014.html> [30 October 2015].

Crime in war time never once ceased,
As new opportunities to steal goods
Of military kind - as that had occurred
With luggage and kit looting in transit
To England - belonging to officers killed.

Belongings to those who died on duty,

Left France for relatives at home - a sad

Regular journey that was intercepted

By those in trust, that were employed 

By the Great Western Railway service.

In hearing at Marylebone Police court

Stood Richard Quartley a Railway carman,

Aged 32 of Shirland Road, Paddington -

A vanguard, Albert William Allen from

Southam Street Westbourne Park age 17.

They were in league with a licensed

Victualler, Albert Fountain from Bury

St Edmunds’ Market Tavern aged 36.

On arrest admittance came from Allen

That with Quartley they opened kit bags.

The luggage numbered about 20 - they

Took property that had a total value

Of £200 - all items except one, belonged

To officers killed in action - the police

Seized the property held by the three.

Charges were made of theft of field

Glasses, a revolver and items, these

Included; blankets, shoes boots, badges,

Underclothing waterproof coats, rugs,

Leggings, watches, cigarette cases.

Additionally were found binoculars

Cameras, mufflers electric torches,

Razors, prismatic compasses scarves

Clinometers, jewellery, and medals

All taken in disregard and disrespect.

While some articles contained officers

Names, others had names erased - amid

Those affected Mrs Mary Drury from

Knightsbridge - identified  articles found

At the homes of Fountain and Allen.

2nd Lieutenant D'Albany Drew Drury

Was a prisoner of war in Germany his

Mother recognised some stolen items,

In receiving some of his kit from war

Office; a 15-guinea camera was missing.

John Tippet, medical student, confirmed

A rain-proof field coat, with his brothers

Name; Lt. Tippet, 5th Kings Shropshire Light

Infantry, killed 19 August at Armentieres;

A room of such property awaited identity.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1915. Dead Officers Kits - Systematic Loot in Transit. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 29 October. P.14. Col.2. Available at:  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11955418/Daily-Telegraph-October-29-1915.html  [Accessed: 30 October 2015].

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

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11955418/Daily-Telegraph-October-29-1915.html

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

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Poem ~ Rebel Recruiters - Friday, 29 October 1915

Impression sketch of Doctor Thomas Addis. jpeg. See original image at: http://blogleodraco.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/continuacao-de-biografias-de-autores-2.html

From two American cities, reactions

Converged over clash of recruitment; 
San Francisco, Thursday 28 October

Happened arrests of two Englishmen.

Dr Thomas Addis and Ralph Blair,

Under conviction of conspiracies -

For their plot to hire resident men

In the US for British military service.

Three other British men; Harry Lane,

Lieutenant Croft and Clive Lawrence -

Came under similar charges but were

Found not guilty of any such crime.

Thursday 28 October 1915, Washington

Saw reactions of British Ambassador

As surprised, as these Englishmen set

Out to recruit Englishmen in America.

Their actions were held in violation

Of an obsolete statute; a government

Admittance came in contradictions -

If such laws existed in other nations

To suggest USA at war, such a statute

Would work against American people -

An appeal would be sought to gain

Diplomatic governmental solutions.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1915. Recruiting in America - Englishmen convicted. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 29 October. P.8. Col.6. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11955418/Daily-Telegraph-October-29-1915.html [Accessed: 29 October 2015].

Mann, J., 2015. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 29 October 2015). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11955418/Daily-Telegraph-October-29-1915.html

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

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Poem ~ German Plans In USA - Wednesday, 27 October 1915

Impression sketch of The Kaiser Commits Atrocities in Belgium, New York World, 1914, 1915 - by Jamie. Taken from original at: http://www.authentichistory.com/1914-1920/2-homefront/4-hysteria/

A reminder to all neutral nations,

Was Kaiser Wilhelm’s ambitious

Plans - in forms of underground

German operations, by gold reserves

Used to advance German causes.

Amid the largest neutral countries,

United States of America became

Aware of German plots, by arrests

In the US; Weehawken, New Jersey -

Agents of Germany held in custody -

In another threat to national security

A movement had been attempted

To displace the American munitions

Industries, but the plot was defeated;

Blocking orders were put in place -

Coming from across the Atlantic

A formal protest came from Austria-

Hungary, against munitions supplies,

Made and delivered to their enemies.

President Wilson's office replied,

How American trade was under

Process of what their traders had

Always said; this was their right.

Facts further released, showed

Another plot from months before -

Agents of German services worked

Underground - supplied with money

To buy persons into their scheme.

One agent's confession informed

How they developed over three

Months to perfect their clockwork

Mine - to attach to stern of vessels,

That took supplies to the allies.

The mechanism would ensure

An explosion, when the boat had

Been at sea for over a day - they

Were almost there, when arrested.

With information released, one

Agent, it was learned, had been

A German officer - who had won

The iron cross on the Marne -

In possession of a substance.

Chlorate of Potash, with weight

Of 480lb - an ingredient of what

Were called 'Sugar bombs.'

He further confessed of secret

Service to help him enter the USA.

This ‘officer and gentleman’ stated

How he had therefore acted alone -

To avoid Count Bernstorff and staff

From any involvement in the plan.

The Federal Secret Service worked,

In showing their skills, in untangling

The German infiltrations and schemes.

Assisted by the likes of those turned

Informer;  a German soldier, Seile.

Complications lay within the USA,

By very fact of millions of Germans,

Along with Austro-Hungarians,

Who resided in that country, to excise

Their influences in the localities.

The likelihood being, of Germany's

Hopes to lay on this fact - but further

Immigration in all probability, worked

To retain patriotic American ideals.

The spies presence displayed evidence

Of world wide intent of military claws;

as in a Mexico plot - friends of Prussia’s

Prince Henry friend, had made intentions

To damage President Wilson's office.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1915. New German Plots. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 27 October. P.8. Col.5. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11946108/Daily-Telegraph-October-27-1915.html [Accessed: 27 October 2015].

Mann, J., 2015. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 27 October 2015). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11946108/Daily-Telegraph-October-27-1915.html

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

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