Poem ~ Sydney Lad On The Somme - Saturday, 3 March 1917- Sunday, 4 March 1917

Source: File: Private (Signaller) Arthur Joseph Hill. See an original image at: <http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205301221> [Accessed 03 March 2017]

Source: File: Arthur Joseph Hill. See an original image at: <http://beyond1914.sydney.edu.au/profile/3168/arthur-joseph-hill> [Accessed 03 March 2017]

Source: File: Letter from Arthur Hill, father of A.J. Hill. See an original image at: <http://beyond1914.sydney.edu.au/profile/3168/arthur-joseph-hill> [Accessed 03 March 2017]

i

A Sydney lad of Waverly New South Wales,

Left home of 60 Wiley Street,

With his father's name - Arthur Joseph Hills

Had departed to take part in war.

Born 18 September 1897 Arthur's early

Education in Waverly; Christian

Brothers College to University of Sydney,

To study English till 1916.

In schooling career his bright disposition

Was recognised; upright with

Manly participation in sports and class -

Captain of 1st 15 football team.

Arthur Hill's ability had been well proved

And matriculated, in 1915

He made a place at University to gain

A bursary for a good future.

Then aged 18, Arthur enlisted February

On the 23 day, to attend signal

School at Kiama - examinations taken

Made him first class signaller.

Within six months, at rank of Corporal,

24th August Arthur Hills

Departed Australia, with expeditionary

Australian Imperial Forces.

Late 1916, Signaller Arthur Hill in France

With Reinforcements Battalion,

Took part in actions about the Somme;

Bapaume as Germans retreated

Corporal perhaps was a temporary rank;

Private Arthur 'Snowy' Hill,

Affectionately named being tall, stout lad,

With light hair and complexion.

ii

Into 1917 a military operation carried

Out codenamed 'Alberich' -

In 1916 had formed German salient’s

Of saint-Quentin and Arras.

This was a planned strategy to regroup

To the Hidenburg line to cut

Front, for ease of defence - though allies

Believed this was a retreat.

Preparations had seen German troops

Destroy commune’s roads and

Railways while poisoning water supplies,

Leaving booby traps behind.

The dawn of 1917 still offered no sign

Of allied Victory, when

The shift away of German presence from

Salient’s made hope.

The area lay in close sight of Australian

Trenches, where Signaller

Arthur Hill 3827,  took part in the operation

To move into gaps left.

17 March 1917, would see the Australians 
Make a road to Main Square

Of Bapaume - where an Anzac army band

Made appearance to play.

Yet a time delayed mine had been placed

Below the town hall, to

Blew within days to bury troops; meanwhile

Snipers were an issue.

iii

Amid later accounts of the Australian Red

Cross, came informants

Of those close to Signaller Private Arthur

Hill, to clarify events.

Pte. J. Glynn 3815, Pte. W. Curran 4015,

C. Wallbank, Pte. Mckenzie 384,

Cpl T Mckenzie 1116, Pte. L. O. Lees 3835;

Snowy Hill's mate, Pte. F. Dunne.

The Australians were close to Bollecourt,

In Sunray Trench the lad

Nicknamed Snowy, Pte. Arthur Hill 3827

Helped gain 1/2 mile of trench.

Pte. Glynn told how Snowy had been part

Of fatigue duty at Sunray

Trench, close to the 'crater' - then under

German counter attacks.

Varied versions by likely battle confusion,

As Pte. W Curran 4015

Said shelling in the early hours struck

Snowy down instantly.

Yet all others said that sniper problem

Had got him - Pte. Glynn

Believed a sniper took Hill down through

The heart - killed outright.

Cpl. Mckenzie 1116, was at the time there

As a witness that Pte. Hill

Had moved just above the parapet, to be 

Target of a keen sniper.

Pte. Mckenzie 384, a close mate, said

Hill was also known as 'honey' -

That they shared leave in London. Only

Later to find out what happened.

Others were there close to the signaller,

Paul Vincent of A Coy,

Told that Pte. Arthur Hill had looked over

Parapet of Mosoon trench.

Some sniper took a rapid aim to shoot

The signaller through

The neck - C. Wallbank was with him

And confirmed his identity.

Another uncertainty lay over Hill's grave;

Close by to Sunray trench,

But his mate failed to find it and later told

It lay at Cameron Sap.

Pte. Lees reported how Hill's death had

Been registered with

Padre Ward - a cross marked the grave,

How his effects sent home.

Days later his father, Arthur, wrote to thank

University Union President, for

Kind letter of sympathy for a son's death -

Signed, yours respectfully.

Thursday 22 February 1917, another day

2nd day 29th Week

In the 3rd year of war, an Australian man

Was shot digging a sap.

A day short of one year in joining, had

Seen Pte. Arthur Hill killed -

22 February 1917 genuinely popular lad,

Named Honey and Snowy.

by Jamie Mann.

Source: File: Explore Military Uniform. Available at: <https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/294422894375837134/> [Accessed 03 March 2017]

Source: File: Beyond 1914 - The University of Sydney and the Great War. Available at: <http://beyond1914.sydney.edu.au/profile/3168/arthur-joseph-hill> [Accessed 03 March 2017]

Source: File: Bapaume To Bullecourt (1917). Available at: <http://aso.gov.au/titles/historical/bapaume-to-bullecourt/notes/> [Accessed 03 March 2017]

Source: File: [PDF] 3827 Private Arthur Joseph Hill - Australian War Memorial. Available at: <https://www.awm.gov.au/images/collection/pdf/RCDIG1047611--1-.pdf> [Accessed 03 March 2017]

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Poem ~ Australian Trooper 'Bluegum' - Tuesday, 22 February 1916

Impression sketch of Oliver Hogue aka Trooper Bluegum,

- by Jamie. An original image that can be seen at: <http://mosman1914-1918.net/project/blog/oliver-hogue-aka-trooper-bluegum-1880-1919> [Accessed: 22 February 2016]

To download an ebook version of 'Trooper Bluegum at the Dardanelles' by Oliver Hogue book  see: <http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/46097>

Born Sydney Australia, Oliver Hogue

Proved he had sporting ability,

To perfect his skill as horseman -

When school ended, young Oliver

Believed himself a born Bushman.

With youth and time Oliver setout

To cycle East coast Australia -

To cover the countless miles to Cairns.

Suiting the outdoors, his career

Involved him as commercial traveler.

Back in Sydney 1907, Oliver Hogue

Turned his talent to journalism,

With the Sydney Morning Herald.

To believe in 1914 he could become

The country’s official war correspondent.

While denied this route he took

Another path as a trooper with

6th Light Horse Regiment - to leave

For the front 21 December 1914,

On SS Suevic of the white Star Line.

By then commissioned as Second

Lieutenant, with a destination

Of Egypt - for the next months

He served Gallipoli as a soldier,

Until enteric fever sent him to England.

Once back in Sinai area Oliver Hogue,

Now Lieutenant, became orderly

Officer to Colonel Ryrie - basically

Still a journalist, Hogue's recorded

Experience in letters to family and Herald.

Despite all Hogue stayed cheerful,

To stick to reporting the truth -

An officer to be known across

Australia for his accounts, under

The pseudonym Trooper Bluegum.

Writing out verbal pictures of Gallipoli

He contributed various articles

To T.P.'s Journal of Great Deeds

With readable, straightforward

Ways to say how he avoided a scratch.

'While blokes like Paddy Ryan

Gained a hole in hat and DCM -

While Billy Sing had a shoulder

Wound - how at total 30,000

Dead came the single word to quit.'

With a chatty style to state his

Hurt at leaving their sleeping pals

At Anzac - the story would

Stick, even in peace between

Campaigns, Bluegum didn't forget.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1916. Trooper 'Bluegum'. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 22 February 1916. P.12. Col.3. Available at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12165475/Daily-Telegraph-February-22-1916.html [Accessed: 22 February 2016].

Source: Mitchell, E. File: Hogue, Oliver (1880–1919). Australian Dictionary of Biography. Online. Available at: <http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/hogue-oliver-6700> [Accessed 22 February 2016]

Source: Major Oliver 'Trooper Bluegum' Hogue. Australian War Memorial. Online. Available at: <https://www.awm.gov.au/people/P10675880/> [Accessed 22 February 2016]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12165475/Daily-Telegraph-February-22-1916.html

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Poem ~ Turkish Tunnel War - Wednesday, 26 January 1916

Impression sketch of British Officer in Turkish Tunnel - by Jamie. See original at:

i

An article by way of Australia’s

High Commissioner, was penned

By Captain Bean - an official

From the Dardanelles, for press

With the imperial Forces.

With the retreat from Turkish

Land having taken place, stories

Still emerged to tell experiences -

As those of the 24th Australian

Battalion in a tunnel's discovery.

Along with 23 Battalion men,

An officer and Engineer's

Corporal they entered entrance

To an underground passageway,

At a distance behind Turk's lines.

In an air of joviality they took

To hand and knees, crawling

Underground - to see where

The tunnels led, the officer

Turned into a slanting tunnel.

In the light at the end of that

Tunnel, was seated a Turkish

Sentry - his rifle aimed down

The hole - this officer froze,

To believe he had been seen.

A foot held mid-air, this officer

Held his pipe clenched tightly

Between gritted teeth; the sentry

Sighed and leaned gently back -

The officer was safe in darkness.

Moving on, the Anzac found

Another opening and guard -

This time the more confident

Officer, closer then peered out

Seeing Turkish guards talking.

Withdrawing by a backwards

Slow shuffle, the Australian

Left that sentry - in their return

They blew Turkish barricade

And sentry high into fresh air.

ii

2nd Australian Division

Fought their battles below

Ground, in pitch darkness -

The division of diggers

Digging into other tunnels.

Armed with their picks,

They broke into Turkish

Spaces - through the gap

A candle might be seen,

Held by Turkish diggers.

In claustrophobic fights,

As shots flashed in the dark

Of underground warrens -

Until possession between

Sides were finally settled.

With hand to hand fights

In tunnel against tunnel -

They crossed side by side

To intersect with frantic

Turk and Anzac reactions.

In the early days of arrival

A New Zealand situation,

Of machine gunnery called

Quinn's Post, was situated

On the top of the valley.

Quinn's Post in the dense

Scrub, turned into a churned

Field from actions beneath -

Where fifty Anzac mines blew,

Along with ten Turks mines.

Quinn's Post lay to bitter end,

Among relics of broken timber,

Like rotten teeth, amid earthy

Clods - while craters cut across

What had once been trenches.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1916. Epic Of Anzac - 'Tunnel Against Tunnel'. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 25 January 1916. P.12. Col.3. Available at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12111105/Daily-Telegraph-January-25-1916.html [Accessed: 25 January 2016].

Mann, J., 2016. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 25 January 2016). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12111105/Daily-Telegraph-January-25-1916.html

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Poem ~ Sniper Sing Tips Turks - Monday, 17 January 1916

Source: File: Billy Sing.jpg. [online] see an original image at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Sing> Accessed: 17 January 2016].

From Gallipoli, by way of Cairo,

Came a tale of an Australian marksman,

While not told by himself but from

Another Australian, Private Frank Reed.

The man himself Trooper Sing

Had bagged over 200 Turks, in snipers

Sights - the number very likely

Higher, during events of enemy attacks.

Private Billy Sing had developed

A method that matched the Turkish

Sniper in his game - having set

Out targets left to him by his mates.

Most distant at 1000 yards

Was a gully track, while 500 yards

A communication sap - then

At 300 yards lay an enemy trench.

Situated in a positioned nest

To look over these targets, Trooper

Sing's snipers method

To lay in wait with his telescopes.

These focused on the most

Likely spots - to assist an officer had

Another telescope - realising

The danger the Turks would hide.

This could leave Trooper Sing

A whole day without seeing any Turk -

If Billy Sing felt his conscience

Pricked, he recollected the early days.

In the first landings the Turk

Snipers had taken down Australian

Officers - thus his heart became

Hardened in his mission to shoot back.

Other days all seemed too easy

When most likely those fresh enemy

Looked boldly for trouble;

As they stood Trooper Sing tipped them.

Billy Sing would exclaim;

The task 'Too easy to be called a sport.'

While he turned a blind

Eye to those out to rescue wounded.

The trooper did not get

Totally away without Turkish revenge,

When an enemy bullet

Expertly entered through the loophole.

Both he and an observing

Sergeant were wounded - after

Being dressed, Private

Sing resumed his sniper's post.

On another day a general

Observed for Sing who, in a poor

Mood over gusty weather,

Causing him to miss an easy target.

The Turk had been seen

At only 300 yards - he grunted

How he would have

To 'start and learn to shoot again.'

When at the 500 yard point,

A hat - he took aim as a head lifted -

He shot as a gust of wind

Made him realise a likely miss by a foot.

Discouraged he again fired -

One more head lifted, for a Turk to be

Hit in the face - Trooper Sing

Turned and addressed the general.

Billy Sing felt sad for the Turk,

Having wanted to hit the other man

Not him - the Australian sniper

Then decided not to count him as a hit.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1916. 'Two Hundred Turks' - Australian Sniper's 'bag'. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 17 January 1916. P.4. Col.3. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12093326/Daily-Telegraph-January-17-1916.html [Accessed: 17 January 2016].

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

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12093326/Daily-Telegraph-January-17-1916.html

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Poem ~ Truth of War Stories - Tuesday, 28 December 1915

Impression sketch of Sniper's Duel.

In a release by High Commissioner

For Australia, spoke the official agent

Of the Press, Captain Bean, on war

Stories - to tell many were incomplete.

As stories are want for completion

To reach an end - as when regiments

Of opposition met in a wood, to shoot

Each other down until the last man.

These tales begin with elements

Of truth, but weaved by ornament

When untangled by threads of gilt -

The truth is lacking in all effects.

At times stories are only given in half,

As when the German officer, seen

By an Anzac ambulance man, to then

Pull out a gun and shoot him down.

Hence a story left in the air, lacked

What followed, that every Anzac close

By aimed a rifle to end the German;

Such stories miss out the final outcome.

Early In Gallipoli campaign a stretcher

Bearer to treat a Turkish soldier, used

His a knife to cut clothing about a wound -

That Turk grabbed the knife to stab him.

His belief was that he was about to be

Eviscerated - his reaction being to fight

Back - the obvious reaction was calmed

By the bearer, to complete the dressing.

Captain Bean had learnt the truth

From the ambulance crew - how the

Bearer, barely hurt, had became source

Of the embellished tuppenny version.

To relate a story two months before -

In October a battalion captain, known

To Captain Bean, came across a man

Shooting, standing above the parapet.

Head and shoulders in view, the Anzac

Fired at something - the Captain told

Him not to be a fool and to stand down -

The second he went, the man stood again.

The truth was the Anzac was in a duel

With a Turk - to have a shot at the other -

Who then took a return aim - what way

Of signalling to do game, was unknown.

In the undertaking, men of the section

On both sides observed with periscopes

And loopholes, as duellists continued

The Turk's shot grazed the Anzac's ear.

Close observation to game's rules held,

Until the Australian fell, hit in temple -

In fact that bullet came from another

Source - unaware of any agreed duel.

The idea of recklessness in any war

Situation, could only be a positive trait -

As in trench and ravines night fighting;

Which had taken place at Saris Bair.

Captain Bean learned that on 7 August

At Dawn a Light Horse Brigade charged

Turkish position - as the Light Horsemen

Made it, the remainder fell to their knees.

A conversation with one wounded man,

An officer, told how first line left the trench -

With the men they waited for two minutes;

The first line crumbled ahead at 10 yards.

A third line was all too aware - the second

Line lifted, to reach a little further than first -

He fell to wait for the third to piggyback -

And man rushed past, right for the Turk line.

The third line did not seem so lucky as

The others - he was alone and nothing

Moved close by - bullets spat up dust -

The earth about blurred in shrapnel haze.

From somewhere a man edged close

To ask what to do? 'Rush or jump?'

'Get back anyway you can,' he said;

The officer lay, a bullet lodged in his foot.

With head towards enemy, he shuffled

Himself backwards - a pull came upon

His sleeve; a dead man's bayonet held

Him with a tug, the sleeve stopped fast.

The officer, forced to move forward into

Snapping bullets to pull free - then again

Backwards till his feet hit space, where

He fell into a sap, finally reaching safety.

One brigadier was on duty about lines,

When he came across a well-built man -

To take a second look, gave him orders

To remove his cap - to be questioned.

How old was he? - The reply being 45

Was challenged, to admit to being 60.

Asked why he was there, the fellow
Told of his sons, both killed at the start.

Such are the reckless risks that many 
Men make, to form a force's backbone. 

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1915. Epic of Anzac - Some War Stories - Australian Recklessness. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 24 December. P.5. Col.2. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12064917/Daily-Telegraph-December-24-1915.html [Accessed: 28 December 2015].

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

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12064917/Daily-Telegraph-December-24-1915.html

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