Poem ~ Walsall Air Tragedy - Tuesday, 17 April 1917 - Thursday, 19 April 1917

Source: File: 2nd Lt Thomas Mann. Wyrleyblog, Local History for Great Wyrley and Surrounding Areas. 'Run': The Ryecroft Plane Crash, 1917. Available at: <https://wyrleyblog.wordpress.com/walsall/tales-from-the-walsall-coroner/run-the-ryecroft-plane-crash-1917/> [Accessed 15 April 2017]

In the county of Shropshire,

2nd Lieutenant Thomas Mann

Stationed at Ternhill airfield,

Finished a hearty breakfast.

The morning fine, as into air

Mann climbed and headed

Into the flight for Solihull.

Time 10.15 a.m.; his precise

Destination was to be west

Midlands, Castle Bromwich.

Likely as all pilots enjoyed,

Mann settled into the ride

Above English countryside -

A world away from the war.

Mann, a member of the 43rd

Royal Flying Corps Squadron,

Lifted Avro 504 to 4000 feet

For some time, until thick

Mist of clouds enforced him

To lower altitude - steering

To 500 feet above a town.

Daughter and mother sat

In their home of Brewer

Street Cottages, Ryecroft -

In the Walsall area - they

Chatted over tea to amuse

The granddaughter Edna.

Frances Ann North smiled.

Known as Fanny aged 60,

Was proud of her daughter

Louisa, whose only child

Edna was ten months old -

The girl's father Arthur Vass

Was away fighting in war.

Over Walsall the day began.

People about on business

heard the sounds of aircraft

From the skies. This was

Common enough, but not

So much as to not attract

Attention from the people on

The ground, who looked up.

Residents of Mill Street

Like Kate Beebee at 115,

And the Royal exchange

Licensee stepped outside.

Morning progressed onto

11 a.m. with the sound

Of a biplane over head.

Less that a mile away at No.

5 Brewer Street Cottages,

Louisa Vass and her mother

Frances also heard sounds

Of the aeroplane - not usual

To hear them passing, but

This one remained stationery.

Leaving Edna playing, the

Two women went outside

There was indeed a plane.

From the garden they saw

The craft circling, for some

Five minutes - Louisa went

Inside to check on her baby.

It was still a novelty to see

Aircraft. In her youth Frances

Had never conceived how

Wood and engine might carry

A man into the sky - Louisa

Reappeared holding Edna

And pointed up to the sky.

'Look Edna, that is a plane.

Can you see?' Back on Mill

Street others also watched -

Licensee Thomas Deakin

Began to think the pilot

Was in some kind of trouble;

The engine made a stutter.

Kate Beebee had paused 

Watching sky, believing

How the pilot was looking

To land - she traced out

His circling, which was

Coming closer - pilot Mann,

In the avro, was worrying.

The engine had lost power -

Mann had tried to see open

Country, but he was above

Walsall town - the avro, then

At 100 feet, fell like a stone

And he could not avoid the

Descent to lose all control.

Kate Beebee gasped with

Disbelief, hand on mouth,

As the biplane came towards

Her - she saw the pilot in the

Seat. He just skimmed the top

Of her house - in seconds

Mann waved frantically.

Shouting 'get out of the way!'

On the ground at Brewer

Street someone shouted, 'run!'

The two women and baby

Watching had no time - Lousia

Could not even scream as

Nose of the plane jabbed her.

With Edna thrown from her

Arms, Louisa fell instantly.

The craft was lodged at the

Gardens edge in a smoking,

Broken heap - Louisa came

Out of the stunned moment

And stood - Edna lay away

From the plane on the path.

Standing, holding her injured

Left arm, Louisa looked from

The slumped pilot to where

Her mother lay, under the belly

Of the machine - the scream

From Louisa's calls for help

Were quickly answered.

Walsall and District Hospital

Tuesday 10 April, called an

Inquest over these events -

The statement of Louisa

Vass told how, after being

Thrown down, she stood

And screamed out for help.

Her mother and daughter

Were both killed outright -

A crowd gathered, mainly

Railway workers - amid

Them Kate Beebee along

With Thoma Deaken had

Followed the craft's descent.

The coroner Mr Addison

Heard how Deakin helped

Remove Mann from the

Tangled Avro wreckage -
with only a few superficial

Injuries - although guilt

Of that day would stay.

Captain White was present

To provide military evidence.

The outcome of the inquest

Advised the deaths resulted

By a tragic accident. The pilot,

2nd Lieutenant Thomas Mann

Exonerated from any blame.

With the Royal Garrison Artillery,
Arthur Vass Stationed in France,  
received a telegram to tell him

Of his daughter Edna's death,

Hit by a military aircraft while

Home. A concerned community

Supported his wife, Louisa Vass,

To pay cost of funerals; £11.10/-.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1917. Strange Aviation Accident. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 9 April 1917. P.5. Col.4. Available at: <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12214440/Daily-Telegraph-April-9-1917.html> [Accessed: 17 April 2017].

Source: File: Wyrleyblog, Local History for Great Wyrley and Surrounding Areas. 'Run': The Ryecroft Plane Crash, 1917. Available at: <https://wyrleyblog.wordpress.com/walsall/tales-from-the-walsall-coroner/run-the-ryecroft-plane-crash-1917/> [Accessed 17 April 2017]

Mann, J., 2016. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 17 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 #WW1Walsall

Poem ~ Cadet Bombardier Harry Warren - Thursday, 12 April 1917 - Saturday, 14 April 1917

Source: File: Harry Collier Warren. Available at: <https://rslvirtualwarmemorial.org.au/explore/people/72073> [Accessed 12 April 2017]

The experience was exhilarating

As they left the ground - sudden rushing

Of air against his face, Harry Collier Warren

Saw the blurring of ground move away

From beneath their craft - the lift inside

His belly, a lightness held by wings.

Harry was learning to fly, a member

Of the Australian Flying Corps - the Avro

Carried them neatly, high into the air. Lincoln

Fields and South Carlton had in seconds

Shrunk to toy size the Cadet's instructor

2nd Lt Gland Lowery called orders.

Cadet Warren acknowledged Lowery

As they lifted steadily in the early April

Sky - the young Australian briefly felt control

Of the Avro 504B B389 - only one of thirty

Contracted, from the Wolverhampton

Sunbeam Motor Car Co. Limited.

Cadet Warren grinned in pleasure

To consider how far he had then come

From home; South Australia.  Harry's family

Lived at Port Pirie, a small seaport on east

Coast. Only aged 19 from Freemantle,

He had sailed on HMAT A7 Medic.

His Majesty’s Australian Transport

Medic had returned back into service

After 14 years. Previously the boat was used

In the Boer war to transport troops -

His previous life as Articled Clerk

Seemed a long, long time ago.

The troopship had taken them across

To Egypt. Harry Collier Warren was then

With the 3rd Australian Field Artillery Brigade -

His service number 1899 - being a driver he

Would never have imagined his chance,

To be able to join the Royal Flying corps.

They climbed steadily higher, Lowery

Had the control again of the dual craft -

Harry felt his was the big adventure, far away

From days of training to be a solicitor back

In Australia - The biplane carried them

Easily to reasonable height of 150 feet.

A seven-cylinder Gnome Lambda rotaryEngine chugged away. Lieutenant LowerySteered them into a good position ready forCadet Warren's second flying lesson. Possibly In the lads eagerness the craft lurched intoA sudden spin; Lowery tugged controls.

No response. The spin took away any

Ability for him to regain control - suddenly
The plane flipped into a nose dive  - in silence

Of the accident's inquest the one survivor,

2nd Lt Gland Lowery, advised that he

Was unable to recover from spin.

Bombardier Harry Collier Warren had

Died from accidental injuries aged 23.

A court of enquiry decided how the spin had

Resulted, possibly from the cadet's use -

Lieutenant Lowery was lucky to survive.

Harry's sister and family later learned

By post, to say a brother had died.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1917. Flying Fatalities. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 9 April 1917. P.5. Col.4. Available at: <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12214440/Daily-Telegraph-April-9-1917.html> [Accessed: 12 April 2017].

Source: File: RSL Virtual War Memorial, Warren Harry Collier. Available at: <https://rslvirtualwarmemorial.org.au/explore/people/72073> [Accessed 12 April 2017]

Mann, J., 2016. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 12 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 #WW1Australia

Poem ~ Mystery Of Private Brazil - Saturday, 9 December 1916 - Sunday 10 December 1916

Source: File: Edwin and Annie Brazil - researched by Thomas Uhlarik, John Hampden Grammar School. Wikipedia. Available at: <http://www.galaxypix.com/Sally/Losttheplot/Tellthemofus/BrazilE.html> [Accessed 9 December 2016]

Source: File: Attestation papers of Edwin Brazil. Available at: <http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/military-heritage/first-world-war/personnel-records/Pages/item.aspx?IdNumber=61953> [Accessed 9 December 2016]

Source: File: Wycombe and the Somme part 4 Gilbert Bates and Edwin Brazil researched and performed by pupils from John Hampden Grammar School and Wycombe Abbey School.  See original footage: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g19ChiaNn78&feature=youtu.be&t=6s> [Accessed 9 December 2016]

i

Tucked away in an almost insignificant report

Page 14, column 3 of The Daily Telegraph,

Noted the loss of a Canadian soldier; although

Facts around him were left as a mystery.

An Englishman Edwin Brazil born Colchester

Essex, 26 June 1875, whose circumstances

Went unexplained; married, Edwin was living

In Canada by the second year of war.

Following his reasons Edwin joined the services

As a Canadian, with 179th Battalion Cameron

Highlanders of Canada - declaring his kin within

Attestation papers dated 13th November.

Next of kin being his wife Annie Huntley Brazil

From High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire

In England, though Edwin was living Winnipeg,

Manitoba in Canada; his trade a wood carver.

Then aged 39 and five months Edwin Brazil

Had a medical examination 12 November 1915.

Height 5 foot 9, described as having thinning

Black hair, fresh complexion with brown eyes.

His chest at full expansion was 38', and noting

He had operation wound on left foreleg -

The medical Captain considered him fit; Brazil's

Attestation signed by a lieutenant Colonel.

Having been recruited in Winnipeg, Canada

Edwin Became Private Brazil 859265 and

Sailed to England, 4 October 1916, on H.M.T.

Saxonia - arriving Liverpool 13 October.

Private Brazil was soon promoted to the post

Of Acting Corporal - by date 17 October to be

Stationed at the Sandling Camp in Folkestone.

Gaining leave Edwin visited his old home.

ii

With 6 days leave to spend, Edwin travelled

Returning to his wife living at 'Brouhaul,'

Amersham Hill, High Wycombe - situated on

A leafy road of various substantial houses.

When those few days came to an end acting

Corporal Edwin Brazil informed his wife

That it was time for his returning to Sandling

Camp - that night Edwin left their home.

Edwin though had no intentions in travelling

To camp, instead he travelled into London,

For whatever reason - then 25 November 1916

Saturday, Edwin Brazil was out walking.

The hour was dark as Edwin Brazil crossed

Grosvenor Place, when all of a sudden

He was hit by a motor bus - the driver and

Others close by went to assist him.

Before he could be taken to St Georges

Hospital, Acting Corporal Brazil died

Of his injuries, lying on the London street -

An inquest was held 30 November 1916.

In conclusion the driver was exonerated from

Any blame, as the verdict of the inquest

Declared this as accidental death - Edwin

Brazil was laid to rest High Wycombe.

Records showed that his last known address

To be Mrs Reeves, 242 Ellen St, Winnipeg,

Canada, though Edwin would declare his will

And estate to 'my wife, Anna Huntley Brazil.'

The mystery of Corporal Brazil perhaps no

Mystery - having married young to Annie

Stevens to become estranged by his behaviour

His wife had hoped that he might change.

Emigrating to Canada, still working as a wood

Carver, Edwin sought a new life - only to return

To England, to see Annie after long years - yet

A hope of love again lost in pointless death.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1916. Killed By Motor. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 1 December 1916. P.14. Col.3. Available at: <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12213905/Daily-Telegraph-December-1-1916.html> [Accessed: 9 December 2016].

Source: File: Edwin Brazil. Available at: <http://buckinghamshireremembers.org.uk/php_scripts/bksidget.php?id=516> [Accessed 9 December 2016]

Source: File: Canadian Virtual War Memorial: In Memory of Corporal Edwin Brazil. Available at: <http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/detail/343890> [Accessed 9 December 2016]

Source: File: Edwin Brazil, researched by Thomas Uhlarik, John Hampden Grammar School. Available at: <http://www.galaxypix.com/Sally/Losttheplot/Tellthemofus/BrazilE.html> [Accessed 9 December 2016]

Mann, J., 2016. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 9 December 2016). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12213905/Daily-Telegraph-December-1-1916.html

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

#WW1 #WW1centenary #GreatWar #WW1poem #GreatWar #WW1centenary #worldwarone #worldwaroneremembered #WW1Canada

Poem ~ Aviator Adventurer - Saturday, 24 June - Sunday 25 June 1916

Source: File: Sub-Lieutenant Charles Nungesser alongside his morbid insignia. [online] See an  original image at: <http://www.opex360.com/2015/07/27/hussard-de-la-grande-guerre-charles-nungesser-le-parrain-de-la-54e-promotion-de-lecole-militaire-interarmes/> [Accessed: 24 June 2016]

A Parisian Charles Nungesser,

An experienced born adventurer

And sportsman, went as a teenager

In search of his missing uncle.

On a mission of discovery Charles

Travelled to South America, here

He worked in Buenos Aires - first

As an auto mechanic then a racer.

From professional racer Charles

Then learned to fly - on finding

His uncle, the young Nungesser

Worked on his sugar plantation.

When war broke out at home

22 year old Charles Nungesser,

Returned to join 2nd Regiment

Hussars, in first months of war.

September 3rd 1914, this soldier

As part of a patrol, was mentioned
In despatches - with their officer

Wounded the men took shelter.

With his fellow soldiers Nungesser

Halted a car, occupied by German

Staff, who they rapidly despatched,

To discover valuable enemy papers.

Nungesser took charge of driving,

At speed returning them to safety -

Stolen by Germans the French car 

Was a Mors; to give him a nickname.

The 'Mors Hussar' had impressed

His superiors, to be given Medaille

Militaire along with the car - some

Days later he passed a few poilu's.

They questioned his role - a youth

Driving around in a car while they

Fought in the trenches - to prompt

Nungesser requesting a transfer.

With his skill at flying, the soldier

Joined Service Aeronautique -

Yet adventurer Charles Nungesser

Was not a man for disciplined rules.

He liked everything fast, not just

Engines but women too - home

In Paris led to his reputed meeting

With an exotic dancer, Mata Hari.

As Aviator the French pilot was

Mentioned 3 times in despatches;

Taking part in 53 bombardments,

To gain Croix de Guerre by 1915.

31 July 1915 Nungesser with his

Mechanic Pochon, on standby, took

Up a Voisin 3 - to fight five Albatros'

Shooting one down near Nancy.

On return Nungesser went under

House arrest, having gone against

Orders - then received a decoration

Before being sent away to Nieuport.

The Nungesser legend had begun -

The pilot’s grim insignia; freebooters

Skull and crossbones below a coffin,

Either side a candle, in a black heart.

The image of Nungesser's morbid

Humour appeared on all his crafts -

A display of his aerobatics above

Nancy, resulted in suspended arrest.

By start of 1916 Nungesser's daring

Resulted in a terrible accident - when

Testing a craft, a control stick broke

His mouth's roof to dislocate his jaw.

Along with two broken legs and

Ribs, found him unconscious for

Five days - invalided from hospital,

A frustrated Nungesser flew again.

In two months he was back in cockpit -

He shot down an enemy balloon

And two crafts  - Nungesser found

Himself promoted to Sub-Lieutenant.

With a report of his 'charmed life,'

Nungesser, during June 1916,

Encountered 6 enemy; 3 Fokkers

And 3 Luft-Verkehrs-Gesellschaft.

In a situation, he employed a trick

To fly between L.V.G. and Fokkers -

Amid six enemies’ they did not fire,

To avoid shooting each other down.

Sub-Lieutenant Nungesser made

His return in safety - he had taken

28 shots in the plane's body, seven

In the engine, one hitting his shoe.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1916. Aviator's Charmed Life. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 24 June 1916. P.10. Col.6. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12211360/Daily-Telegraph-June-24-1916.html [Accessed: 24 June 2016].

Mann, J., 2016. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 24 June 2016). 

Source: File: Charles Nungesser Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Online. Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Nungesser> [Accessed 24 June 2016]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12211360/Daily-Telegraph-June-24-1916.html

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

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

Poem ~ Explosive Warning - Thursday, 3 February 1916

Impression sketch of Explosive Warning - by Jamie.

Warnings follow on heels of warnings,

Which only the wise would take notice -

By Chief Inspector words on explosives.

A Home office issue 2 February 1916,

Gave notification to risks of dangers

Of relics, transported from the frontline.

Most dangerous of all were any fuse

Or shells that having once been fired,

Became sensitive in failing to explode.

Such intact armaments might be kept

In a way, that the firing mechanism

Could be subjected or moved, to blow.

An explosive catastrophe a likely result -

Home Office advice was many numbers

Of accidental fatalities already occurred.

Much less risky were those cartridges

Or shells that had never been fired

Although any possession was illegal.

To quote Explosives Act 1875 stating

Any dismantling or using explosives,

Was illegal, subject to heavy penalties.

The enforced warning was tremendous

Risks in the tampering of such shells,

Made by any unqualified acts of persons.

The Home Office warning extended,

To give legality in keeping fragments

Of shells, that once held explosives.

Such examples of what might be kept

Were rifle cartridges, being half inch

Diameter and measuring three inches.

Advice concluded that for illegal types

Being likely to blow, was for keepers

To drop them into nearest deep waters.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1916. Dangerous War Relics - A Warning. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 3 February 1916. P.7. Col.6. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12134516/Daily-Telegraph-February-3-1916.html [Accessed: 3 February 2016].

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12134516/Daily-Telegraph-February-3-1916.html

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

#WW1 #WW1centenary #GreatWar #WW1poem #GreatWar #WW1centenary #worldwarone #worldwaroneremembered #WW1homefront