Poem ~ Beef Beverages for the Front - Thursday, 19 November 1914

A pen drawing displays,

Two Tommy’s at the front,

Leaning against a wall,

Of a shallow trench.

Behind them a backdrop

Of puffs of exploding smoke.

One Tommy, his cap tilted,

Aims his Lee Enfield,

While the other, a man

With a moustache, turns.

He looks from the drawing,

One hand holding his rifle,

Yet to be in use, the other

Hand down - opened mouthed

He addresses the viewer.

Beneath him are the words

He speaks ‘Give me a cup

Of Ivelcon.’

The uncatchy name ‘Ivelcon’

Given to a beef beverage.

A mix of prime beef,

Blended with vegetables,

Compressed in a cube.

A sustaining drink that

Made in Yeovil by St Ivel Ltd

Can be made in a minute.

With a bit of boiling water.

The headline encourages

‘So send a tin of cubes

To your soldier.’

As this image suggests,

The calm Tommy fights -

Happily to look the other way,

Regardless of snipers.

Atop a trench he is yearning

For a beef tea -

The drawing notes

‘Ivelcon War Series No 3’ –

So there are more

Jolly scenes to come.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1914. Ivelcon Advert. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 19 Nov. p.7. Col.6-7. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11232260/Daily-Telegraph-November-19-1914.html [Accessed: 19th November 2014].

Mann, J., 2014. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 19 November 2014). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11232260/Daily-Telegraph-November-19-1914.html

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

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

Poem ~ Kick a Football to the Front - Thursday, 19 November 1914

A discussion was made,

Between the war Office

Recruiting Department,

And the secretary

Of the Football Association -

The purpose, to create

‘Interesting innovations,’

For future football matches.

Football and recruiting

Seem an ideal situation, 

Where men gather,

To make a captive audience.

The psychology of team

Against another team, should

Capture their fighting attention.

Meetings will most likely

Be held in the grounds,

Where prominent men

Will speak -

At half time Intervals,

And at the end of a match.

Then a band will march,

From the ground,

To a recruiting station -

Like the Pied Piper,

Leading men to join the forces.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1914. Football and the War – Aid to Recruiting. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 19 Nov. p.10. Col.2. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11232260/Daily-Telegraph-November-19-1914.html [Accessed: 19th November 2014].

Mann, J., 2014. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 19 November 2014). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11232260/Daily-Telegraph-November-19-1914.html

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

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