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 ~ Tank Sickness - Wednesday, 25 October - Friday, 27 October 1916

Source: File: Germans attacking tank. See an original image at: <http://wio.ru/tank/ww1tank.htm> [Accessed 25 October 2016]

To see inside a tank see, Weapons of War: Mark 1 Tank Available at: <http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwone/launch_ani_mark_one_tank.shtml>

Amid the newest formations of force

Came the crews of tanks, whose

Experiences brought another aspect

Of war out of the western front.

One recruit of a crew an Australian,

Maintained a diary to tell of one

Week inside the fighting machine in

A story to the Manchester Guardian.

Initially an unpleasant set of feelings

Akin to seasickness - in the motion

Of the craft he dealt with the nausea

Of tank sickness, to find his tank legs.

With such legs he climbed inside

With the tank corps - a Subaltern,

3 Drivers and 4 Gunners - minimal

Training made for strange sensation.

The Australian decided being inside

To be worse than in a submarine -

Imagination became heightened - in

A confined space nothing was visible.

Once away though, limited vision

Continued restricted views - then out

In the midst of battle sounds of hail

On a galvanized roof deafened all.

Next a series of 'hammer blows'

Of heavier weaponry against their

Shell - still the driver carried them

Onwards making it, all unscathed.

Crawling at a methodical pace until

There was a lurch, the Australian felt

They were 'booked through' - a look

Out saw they were astride a trench.

With the enemy close by their orders

Were to 'give them hell' - this they

Did, raking bullets right and left -

Allowing a peek it was grim humour.

Outside their tank were Germans

Acting as frightened rabbits, easily

Shooting them down in bunches -

Halting escape to their burrows.

In hopeful futility the Hun brought

Out machine guns to rattle their hide,

Without making any indentations -

They came across more fearful Huns.

As if possessed the enemy scattered,

To be scythed in the process - some

Officer sought to gather his men back

Together, awaiting the metal tank.

As the crew began anew the enemy

Scattered once more - all around

Infantry followers rounded up any

Survivors, who stared open mouthed.

Their wide eyes watched the crawling

Tank - then on the Tuesday they did

It all again. The Australian spoke in

His diary of Germans as silly blighters.

German tactics believed some ability

To succeed with rushing the tank from

All sides, as if raiding a fort - Devilish

Plucky but mad, to be hit point blank.

On the third time out, the Wednesday,

Found the tank approaching some

Village - a place where a Hun party

Stood to greet them - a big mistake.

By obscured vision it appeared they

Might be the mayor and other big pots -

Somewhat large figures made a warm

Reception of machine guns and more.

Trying to board the sealed machine -

With a laugh to return their fire; 'tank

Reception Committee dispersed' - amid

Smoky cloud and flames one stood.

Rotund and purple in his rage, he ran

Like a part in a sack race; 'funny as hell.'

The old man threw himself down in

Made gestures of terror and surrender.

On another casual touring day, this

Australian witnessed rounding up

Of surrendering Hun when one said,

It was 'not fair to fight with such things.'

This was their affair - despite any racket

Germany sought to give - taking air the

Crewman asked one such cheeky chap

If they should get Kaiser's permission?

The joke went over his head as they

Gave another big shock, to counter any

Enemy surprise of entrapment, where

They rolled into midst of their ambush.

In a repeat of terrified fleeing, enemy

Quickly took to heels in all directions - only

A few lingered to fire back, but were easily
Crushed, for Yorks to pick up the pieces.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1916. Inside a 'Tank' - Grim And Humorous Tales. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 17 October 1916. P.10. Col.7. Available at: <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12213438/Daily-Telegraph-October-17-1916.html> [Accessed: 25 October 2016].

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

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12213438/Daily-Telegraph-October-17-1916.html

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Poem ~ Somme Tricks and Mishaps - Wednesday, 23 August 1916 - Friday, 25 August 1916

Source: File: ruins of Pozieres after the battle. The grave is that of Captain Ivor Margetts. AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL. See an original image at: <http://www.news.com.au/national/anzac-day/world-war-i-battlefield-relic-from-pozieres-to-be-presented-at-launceston-ceremony/news-story/68cf35eb0effa0746d39a4c9abaa630a> 
[Accessed 23 August 2016]

By fighting stretched over further days,

Each second as a heavy pace - almost

Unbearable - but still endured by those

That lived - 1 July seemed long gone,

But from that hours beginning no end

Was yet in sight.

Paused breathing spaces, then another

Stride of individuals made whole

Over familiar, now unfamiliar grounds,

Pulverized and smashed again into

Disorder of primeval soup, where one

Day life may revive.

One day too far ahead to conceive,

As the present heaved day after

Day - yet July becomes August still

Summer - told by warmth of air

Even if any other evidence might

Be absent.

Unseen by a soldier’s eyes normality

Is another affair - artillery or other

Gunnery, systems of trenches occupy

These workers minds as they push on,

Against redoubts where a single gun

May remain.

Still to cause havoc - then suddenly,

Somehow, if not quite sure, the high

Ground of Pozieres is gained by some

Pathetic achievement - Thipeval

And Pozieres - Pozieres and Thiepval,

Over repeated ground.

A rolling frozen muddied sea where

Rewards come as holes in the ground -

Water falls from blue skies down into

Burrowed earth, where waiting

Germans hold out with supplies

Of bombs.

All types of weapons to hand yet

Many gave no resistance - to kick

Aside their arms and lift high their

Hands in surrender - though some

Choose by order to die by gun

Of an unknown man.

The need to clear them out is swift

And urgent, to prevent any pockets

Of Germans that could emerge once

Passed - attacks from the rear make

A hard lesson to learn - how events

Occurred too many times.

A witness account to give impression

Of those taken from enemy dugouts -

All tall, healthy, fresh looking without

A stain on uniforms - out of galleries

Of luxuries of sprung beds, armchairs

And false curtained windows.

To watch them marching, led by one

That laughed and joked before his

Brother officers - a great giant man

Made taller by his German casque -

Such a strong beefed up force could

Easily halt progress.

Each day the artillery set to grind

Down on the enemy - but each

Shell equates destruction of

Earth, to counter swift progress

As troops stumble over uneven

Ground.

In all directions dank land lay

Pitted by crater holes - enough

To confuse any man in the dark.

One Australian advance tumbles

Into holes, deeper than a man,

To sink into filth.

Lights might flash from enemy

Flares, to give some warning -

Equally to light their figures,

Which reappear, blacked stained

Mockery of men, to be picked

On by Germans.

Hazards are varied in such vile

Swamps - one Australian told

Of his burial alive over six times,

To be rescued with luck - saved

By a bubble of air; though others

Might succumb to nerves.

Still more hazards lay, even after

A trench might be deserted

As Hun were apt to leave small

Gifts to the unwary - by parapets

A mantrap might be laid, to bite

The leg of a soldier and bring

Him down.

Then there were the tortoise shell

Type traps - unlikely to be seen

In the dark they waddled on 4 legs -

And once touched could easily kill

A man - then there are the lucky

Mishaps.

On the road between Delville

And High Wood, where trenches

Were defended - the Germans

Swarmed either side the allies,

Who ducked for the enemy then

Mistook each other.

Over the heads bombs were

Thrown - German at German

As their real targets slipped

Easily away - defiant of all bags

Of tricks, they conveyed fresh

Prisoners to their lines.

By Jamie Mann.

Gibbs,P., 1916. British Advance - New Enemy Weapons - Astounding Incident. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 23 August 1916. P.10. Col.1. Available at: <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12212857/Daily-Telegraph-August-23-1916.html> [Accessed: 23 August 2016].

Mann, J., 2016. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 23 August 2016). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12212857/Daily-Telegraph-August-23-1916.html

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Poem ~ Aussies at Pozieres - Monday, 24 July 1916 - Wednesday, 26 July 1916

Source: File: "Gibraltar" bunker, Pozières, in late August. A fatigue party laden with sandbags heads for the fighting at Mouquet Farm.  See an original image at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Pozières#/media/File:Gibraltar_bunker_Pozieres_(AWM_EZ0098).jpg> [Accessed 24 July 2016]

Amid the failed objectives of 1 July 1916,

Stood the small French village of Pozieres -

Not yet to be forgotten - delayed scheduled

Full-on attacks would resurge by mid month.

Situated on another Somme ridge, this

Village lay on the road between Bapaume

And Albert - houses clustered about one

Long straight road with a lone windmill.

Once a Roman way was deserted

In the presence of armies, that made

This their demarcation - here atop

Rolling ground lay the highest point.

This was where Pozieres windmill that

Caught high winds, to become Hill 60;

Just the slightest point of height could

Provide the advantage for artillery fire.

The German line had sliced the Somme

From Longueval, Bazentin Le Petite,

Over that ridge and behind Pozieres -

Intentions were for British to move east.

With this, Thiepval and Pozieres would

Prove too much for Germans to hold -

With focus on grounds between those

Communes of Ginchy and Guillemonth.

Along with High and Delville woods

An increased pressure would allow

A gain of Pozieres - by steady steps,

The fourth army made initial advance.

Over five days, 13 to 17 July, no gain

Was made, only high casualties, during

This the work of artillery pounded

The deserted French village into ruins.

Two attempts to take Pozieres trench

In a system from west to south failed -

While east attempts up the Old Geman

Lines also failed; a rethink was needed.

Decisions could have no hesitations,

General Rawlinson would send

Six divisions from south and north,

Down Guillemont and Albert road.

Initially scheduled for day 18 July,

Postponement took this to evening

Of 22 July, by two Generals situations;

Gough reserves, Walkers Australians.

In position of holding the road since

Before July, Lt General Gough known

As a 'thruster,' told M-General Walker

To attack Pozieres during coming night.

Leading the Australians after Gallipoli,

Walker locked horns - that his attack

Would happen only after preparations -

So a launch set in hours from 22-23 July.

Three stages to happen in half hours -

Minutes of the clock, to see 1st divisions

Of Australians form south, while from

West, South Midland division would move.

Pozieres took another bombardment,

To include tear and phosgene gas -

German 117th Infantry shells beat time,

As Australian brigades made preparations.

1st and 3rds behind artillery wall edged

Into No Mans land - as the shield lifted,

They rushed outwards to gain Pozieres

Trench in the south - onto a second stage.

Australians crept out through remnants

Of back gardens, to join with stage three

Down into Albert Road - while garrisons

Of Germans then moved east and north.

With matching moves and gains, words

On white paper set out a night attack -

Despite confusion over beaten ground,

German resistance came from old line.

An 18-year-old officer, Ian Fraser arrived

From Sandhurst to Somme, in admittance

Of fear from his age in leading others - his

Terror brewed in bombardment not to fail.

Then they moved with intermittent fear

Between bursts, as they were forced

To crawl under snipers fire - on northside

Of Pozieres Fraser led a bomb attack.

At some random point, a German rifle

Shot - intentional of specific target or

Not, knocked Fraser to the ground;

A bullet had passed through his head.

The small missile did its deed that

Destroyed both eyes - others acted

To dress him - Fraser even chatted

With his commander as they walked.

Later he recalled how he was laid

On a market type barrow, wheeled

Along for apparent miles down a shell

Damaged road - none of which he saw.

Some doctor gave him an injection, to

Write an indelible cross upon his fore-

Head. quizzed why? 'Oh just a sign that
You had anti-tetanus' - he lay still, blind.

A Chaplain of the Gloucesters, Dominic

Devas, appropriately at Crucifix Corner

Dressing station, saw tremendous howls

Of bombardment puckering night into light.

Devas assisted through the dark hours

As wounded gathered under the crucifix

Arms, until a fresh summer morning broke -
At Aveluy he gave mass to passing soldiers.

Das Blockhaus to be known as Gibraltar,

Was a bunker on the western side, which

Australians reached - lying thick with dead

Of the enemy, as wounded still piled up.

On the ground of the windmill lay concrete

Gibraltar, which found had new purpose

As HQ for 7th and 8th Australians - amid

The first, Private Bourke stepped inside.

Cake boxes lay in a corner, with an address

Written by a child - while evidence of a coat

Bloodied with shrapnel of a German wearer;

Saddened Bourke dwelt on the child's gifts.

By this date 23 July, Australian prospectors

Out on the road captured various Germans,

As some kind of hold was made on Pozieres -

The only gain on that date of German focus.

With all communication process hampered,

Only by the early morning of 24 July, gave

Realization that Pozieres was captured -

Attacks elsewhere faded, looking to Pozieres.

Continual but not intense, IV German corps

rearmed their guns, targeting head on Sausage

Valley towards Casualty Corner - thereafter

Called Dead Mans Road - for counter attacks.

By Jamie Mann.

Richardson, M., 2015. Eyewitness On The Somme 1916. Pen and Sword Books. Ch. 3

Source: File: Battle of Pozières. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Pozières> [Accessed 19 July 2016]

Mann, J., 2016. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 19 July 2016). 

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

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