Source: File: First
World War - Battle of the Somme and experiences of trench warfare (Mr Allsop
History). [online] [Accessed: 01 July 2016]
Source: File: The
British Capture Montauban. See an original image at: <https://17thmanchesters.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/montauban-1-bell.jpg> [Accessed 02 July 2016]
Source: File: Defence
of Montauban - Digging Trenches.
See an original image at: <https://17thmanchesters.wordpress.com/the-big-push/the-defence-of-montauban/>
[Accessed 02 July 2016]
i
The earth has
turned red -
Not by any hint
of sunlight
That hung bright
above earth,
But by the blood of
men -
Any difference of
German or
Allied blood was
impossible
To tell - a
Soldier of the 14th
Royal Irish
Rifles moved on.
Across the lines
similar
Stories played
out - early
That morning C Company,
Of 2nd Battalion
Essex
Regiment, was
south
Of Serre - 2nd
Lieutenant
Gilbert
Waterhouse was in
The assault of
606 ranks.
The Lieutenant
had joined
As a private and
applied
For a commission -
Aged 33,
A distinctive man
of varied
Talents - his
observations
Honed into lines
of poetry.
Although little
known, he
Knew the tread of
a private.
Already with 24
compositions
To his name,
Waterhouse
Considered how 1
July would
Give him more to
write - yet
Within 120
minutes after zero
Hour, would be his
last sighting
Alive - Lieutenant
Waterhouse
Last seen by
Private Atkins.
Action had led
them on from
Serre to Beaumont
- thirty
Yards ahead
Atkins saw him.
Distinctive, he
stood revolver
In hand, ahead of
the platoon -
He dropped to
crawl, as others
Followed suit -
assumption
Being he was
avoiding gunfire.
Amid the poets that
took
To the call,
Sergeant Streets
Had, like all pals,
undertaken
Training prior to
that fateful
Day - a Sheffield
man amid
Pals that had
already served
In Egypt - they
sailed back
In preparations
for the push.
John Streets in
civvy days
Had developed an
artistry -
Inspired by
Derbyshire
Countryside -
with his love
Of writing
continuing to days
Of army life - amid
public
School types, miner
Streets
Found himself
west of Serre
Sergeant Streets
had written
In a red note
book of their
Training days -
carefully
Prepared they were
ready
For the attack -
Streets told
His family he
might never
Return - but he felt
no anger
Leading his men
to assembly.
The trenches
there already
Battered, mainly
by weather -
To lay behind
their pals, thirty
Yards ahead -
zero hour
Saw the Sheffield
soldiers
Rise into the
fray of machine
Gunners; Sergeant
Streets
Was hit, so made his
return.
Others said how
they saw
Him go to aid of
another
Wounded fellow,
where
He was last seen
- with
No proof of
death, Street
had declaration
of 'missing'
Status - while
lying still,
Might then give
no grave.
ii
Seconds into
minutes
Into hours of 1
July 1916;
It was impossible
to halt
Time - Schwaben
Redoubt
Morale lay in
disintegration -
A weary rabble of
soldiers
Was quizzed by an
officer -
But they were all
incoherent.
As horses he led them
all
to water - the
men drank. After
This the officer pushed
them
Back into battle
- the Irish
Were fighting determinedly
-
In a tactic they stayed
amid
Shell holes to
see Germans
Repopulate their
trenches.
Hun large numbers
formed
Their own trap,
as the Irish
Pulverized them; with
Grenades they
charged -
Under bayonets
they wiped
Out all Germans
to purloin
Enemy ammunition.
The
Hour turned to
16:38 p.m.
About the area of
Montauban
Village ruins
were the German
Fighting lines,
with three major
Points of
strength; Dublin,
Glatz and
Pommiers Redoubt -
The crumbling remains had
Been well fortified
- Trones,
And Bernafay
woods lay east.
Montauban lay
in divisional
Sights -
Manchester men
Found hardly
any opposition,
As they pushed
in to clear
Way by bombing
parties -
With no
recognisable streets
The ruins
harboured remaining
Germans, to
quickly surrender.
From the new British
line,
A Private Kennedy
returned
To the old line,
for grenade
Supplies - the afternoon
drew
On as he returned,
across
What was an eerie
No Mans
Land - the sun shone,
about
Were cries of the
wounded.
While picking his
way slowly
Came the agony of
inability
To help those
around - he
Saw their faces
and raised
Arms - he shut
them out -
His orders were to
deliver
A vital load of
grenades to
Manachesters at Montauban.
In uniform with
Brodie hat,
Geoffrey Malins,
without
Any gun, aimed
his camera -
At significant
points of day;
Fresh footage had
mounted
Up in the can -
Malins turned
His lens to
returning Seaforth
Highlanders,
falling into lines.
Men were 'utterly
worn out
Body and soul' - Malins saw
How their
sergeant stood,
Resting his small
notebook
On his rifles
end - the men
Heaved
themselves up into
Two small,
wavering lines - his
Pencil struck
out the missing.
While at
Montauban, Private
Kennedy
delivered his load
Of grenades - They
explored
The German's
fortified village;
Find they are
places of home,
Solid and well
lit. Kennedy
Found a nervy
little kitten, He
Carried the black
cat in his pack.
iii
Kennedy and the
tiny kitten
Spent the evening
with pals,
Awaiting their
next orders -
Other soldiers
with success
Their sector taken,
discover
A dead machine
gunner - the
German had
been chained
To his gun;
causing rumors.
Yet the day is
not yet over
For many forces
- success
At Schwaben
Redoubt saw
Ulsters come
under assault
By German
Regiment - now
The opposite
applies, when
British machine
guns aimed
At waves, to
cut them down.
Darkness had
yet to fall
On this bloody
day - a third
German wave are
crushed,
Under sudden artillery
-
Into evening
light, the full
Weight of what
has taken
Place begins to
haunt
The survivors
of the battle.
With pockets of
conflict
Still going on,
the fields
Of the Somme
are scoured -
Stretcher-bearers
and medics
Set out to
recover as many
Of the wounded
as possible.
Blinding evidence
stat to fill
Casualty
clearing stations.
Medical Deadlock
occurs,
Injured soldiers
await their
Moment of
triage - varied
Wounds will see
yet many
Die - worse
still, only 3 out
Of 18 ambulance
trains are
Filled -
pressure intensifies
For the Doctors
and nurses.
One infantry
officer, Edward
Liveing, had survived the first
24 hours - in the early minutes
Of the attack he had reached
Wire of Germans - behind
The fourth wave of attack
Had all but been obliterated -
Within 15 minutes he was hit.
A bullet cut into his thigh, like
Boiling water - he had tried
To urge on the attack, but
His voice yelled unheard -
He crawled slowly back,
Nearly shot dead by friendly
Fire, his Blighty leads him
To safety of an ambulance.
Edward Liveing is
one
Of the lucky ones - some
Battalions had lost all
Their officers - in a whirl
Of slowed time, he lies amid
Rows of stretchers - patched
Up, he's transported to a train,
Where he accepts lemonade.
About Liveing, the train
Is soon packed with shapes
Of the wounded - to fill air
With aroma of bloodied
Khaki - eventually evening
Passes into twilight and
Darkness; many injured
Are still lying, left in fields.
With few success, as at
Montauban, the worst day
For the British army begins
To draws to a close - final
Numbers were still to be
Confirmed - to rise around
21,000 - with Germans killed
Reaching numbers of 8,000.
by Jamie Mann.
Source: File:
Battle of the Somme. Available at:
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Somme> [Accessed 02 July
2016]
Source: File: The
Battle of the Somme, as it happened on July 1, 1916 - The Telegraph. Available
at: <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07/01/the-battle-of-the-somme-as-it-happened-on-july-1-1916/> [Accessed 02 July 2016]
Source: File: East
Surrey Regiment’s ‘football’ charge July 1st 1916. Available at:
<http://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/themes/subjects/military/east_surrey_regiments_football_charge_july_1st_1916/>
[Accessed 02 July 2016]
Source: File: W.
N. Hodgson Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Available at:
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._N._Hodgson> [Accessed 02 July 2016]
Source: File:
William Noel Hodgson (1893 – 1916). Available at:
<http://www.warpoets.org/poets/william-noel-hodgson-1893-1916/> [Accessed 02 July 2016]
Mann, J., 2016. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal
communication, 02 July 2016).
#WW1 #WW1centenary #GreatWar #WW1poem #GreatWar #WW1centenary
#worldwarone #worldwaroneremembered #WW1Somme
