Source: File: German prisoners and British wounded crossing a duck board bridge over
the Yser Canal. Near Boesinghe, 31 July 1917. See an original image at: <https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Battle_of_Passchendaele,_July-november_1917_Q5726.jpg>
[Accessed 01 August 2017]
One day had started - 'the
day of battle
The world had waited for began.'
Such were words of war correspondent
Philip Gibbs - formed in acts of
battle
Tactics; did that world
include Germany?
Over land between Boesinghe
to River
Lys, shoulder-to-shoulder
French
And allied troopers began
the fight - after
Intensity of bombardment and
offence
Opened to soften the German
side.
Along a 15-mile front French
made their
Approaches over allied left
shoulder.
Despite poor weather, the
sector of Ypres
Neighbour villages fell from
German
Hands - Steenstraete soon succumbed.
The Poilu had made great
advances
In protection of the allied left flank -
Taking objectives within
first few hours,
Two miles into enemy
occupation
Another objective formed,
Bixschoote.
In south easterly directions
the mass
Of Poilu's advanced into
Kortekeer,
Cabaret village - with other
communes
Soon to follow - short hours
later
German counter attacks were halted.
From their centralised push
the British
Made gain of two miles -
objectives
Of Steebeek river crossings
were taken.
With formation of two assurgent
Systems, assaults opened on targets.
St Julien, Frezenberg, Pikem
along
With Verlorenhoek -
strongholds
Of woods and farms reformed
under
Hands of British - on the
south
Flank first objectives were
also gained.
Sanctuary Wood and Hooge
village -
while Westhoek village witnessed
A vicious struggle - a mile
reportedly
Taken. All about counter
attacks
Were faced and held on:
stalemate.
Success upon success - all
within
Initial hours of fight to
suggest
Great gains. Reports promised
battle
Wins the world had awaited -
This might just be the
breakthrough.
by Jamie Mann.
Anon.,1917.
Great Battle Of Flanders. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 01 August 1917. P.5. Col.4. Available at:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12214747/Daily-Telegraph-August-1-1917.html
[Accessed: 01 August 2017].
Mann, J., 2016. 100
years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 01 August
2017).
Source: File: Over German aerodrome. See an original image at: <http://www.earlyaeroplanes.com/archive3.htm>
[Accessed 30 July 2017]
Along the battle
front, into the Belgium sector
On the 4th day,
51st week in the 3rd year of war,
Artillery raged -
reports verified by Douglas
Haig, described
enemy artillery close
To Armentieres
and coastal area North of Ypres.
Yet allied
activity was equal in the air above,
On the 4th day,
51st week in the 3rd year of war.
Attacks carried out
by the Royal Flying Corps
Led bombing
attacks across German
Aerodromes, to
number 4 to make destruction.
Downed aircraft
of the enemy numbered 16;
On the 4th day,
51st week in the 3rd year of war.
The attack force
flew 40 miles into territory
Of the enemy -
the report for Friday,
Told that three
allied craft remained missing.
While raids were
made through high clouds,
On the 5th day,
51st week in the 3rd year of war,
Also saw night
trench raids by British Tommy’s
At
Fontaine-lez-Croisilles, Havrincourt
Fleurbix, Epehy
and Rouex, in Ypres proximity.
Machine gun,
trench mortar and 77 prisoners,
On the 5th day,
51st week in the 3rd year of war
Proved a prize - yet
air battles also continued -
A great wave of
high activity would have
Seen 14 downed
enemy craft and 16 destroyed.
Not without cost,
as 13 allied plane were lost,
On the 5th day,
51st week in the 3rd year of war.
Further bombing
raids over 2 aerodromes
Whilst enemy railway
stations suffered;
Flyers took out 2
German observation balloons.
Claims from a Berlin
perspective entered news,
On the 5th day,
51st week in the 3rd year of war.
Their own pilots
taking down 35 allied craft -
How one squadron
shot downed 6 pilots,
While ground saw
intensity of highest artillery.
French efforts
proved successful defence, on
4th and 5th days,
51st week in the 3rd year of war,
Having repulsed
German attacks over Chemin
De Dames - as
were those in Champagne
And Meuse between
Hill 304 and Avocourt Wood.
At La Bovelle to
Hurtebise French took ground over
On 4th and 5th
days, 51st week in the 3rd year of war.
by Jamie Mann.
Anon.,1917. The War - French Success - Activity In Flanders.
The Daily Telegraph, [online]
30
July 1917. P.5. Col.1. Available
at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12214740/Daily-Telegraph-July-30-1917.html
[Accessed: 30 July 2017].
Mann, J., 2016. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal
communication, 30 July 2017).
Source: File:Pozieres Windmill, pre war. See an original
image at: <http://www.curryww1.com/galleryImg_large.asp?galID=12&galImgID=103>
[Accessed 19 August 2016]
Source: File:Pozieres Windmill, at start of 1915. See an original image at: <http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?/topic/154554-pozieres-windmill/>
[Accessed 19 August 2016]
Source: File:Pozieres Windmill, September 1915. See an original image at: <http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?/topic/154554-pozieres-windmill/>
[Accessed 19 August 2016]
Source: File:Pozieres Windmill, May 1916. See an original
image at: <http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?/topic/154554-pozieres-windmill/>
[Accessed 19 August 2016]
i
Reaching the 17th day of Somme events,
Came newly familiar names of Guillemont
And Pozieres - here subjugation crossed
Grounds - central to some allied progress.
South of Guillemont attacks took place
At Angle wood - some gains in summers
Heat being lost in night counter attacks.
Given over to the French advancements
To the wood from Hardecourt, in capture
Of a ravine made some reinforcements
Of the allied line about Guillemont village.
From the shadows of Trones the capture
Of Malzhorn farm from the 9th day, saw
Allied forces link at southern trenches.
British and French armies yet to achieve
Final outcome, across chewed up ground
Around Guillemot - close and beyond,
Lay enemy concentrations of batteries.
ii
In reports Journalist P.Gibbs set attention
On another point, looking to Pozieres in
A clear view by artillery observation post.
In concentration to the left of the village
That then made a battle line with gains,
Made by Australians and British unity,
Situated on the skyline stood a windmill.
Rather, by what then remained of an aged
Structure that had stood for centuries,
Whose sails captured winds to grind corn.
A stumpy solid, round stone structure held
Claim to high ground on a ploughed field's
Edge, forming a local landmark to people
Of Pozieres by distinct conical, arched roof.
Then the wide-open views of Somme farm
Lands, invaded by opposing forces began
Their erosion - Pozieres became deserted.
iii
The French commune turned into defensive
German position, whose old windmill could
Provide views of a panorama, where allies
Could be observed; the mill became a target.
Trees picked off one by one about abandoned
Stone mill - frozen wooden sails splintered -
By 1915 the tiled conical roof took initial hits.
A quiet sector of the Somme spent months
In tit-for-tat exchanges - Pozieres and mill
Stayed relatively sound, under light shell hits
Through months of spring into summer days.
Slow damage ruptured one side, to reveal
The stone walls density of the ancient mill -
Opening up the two floors in spilled stone.
A neglected ground earth began to shoot
Its wild weeds into 1916 - new warm days
Saw further demise of a smashed tiled roof
Collapsed in on itself destroying workings.
iV
Then gone beyond repair a slumped edifice,
Little more than a base, observed by Gibbs
In August 1916, as just a broken silhouette.
A landmark made infamous, compared
To other battle ripped structures, such as
Vermelles or Thiepval chateaus - Loos
Tower bridge or Yser's Ferrymans house.
Described as just a timber and stone built
Windmill - whose sails, snatching winds of
Centuries had never witnessed flying craft.
Nor had ancient owners ever conceived
Howitzer shells that had abilities to smash
Down its solid walls - proudly defended
By Germans until the last stones leveled.
Reduced to little more than a stone pyramid,
as a memorial to spilt blood; 'the windmill
Is ours now,' made for a pathetic declaration.
By Jamie Mann.
Gibbs.P.,1916. Guillemont Fighting - The Advance On Thiepval.The Daily
Telegraph, [online] 19 August 1916.
P.8. Col.3. Available at:
<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12212787/Daily-Telegraph-August-19-1916.html>
[Accessed: 19 August 2016].
Mann, J., 2016. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal
communication, 19 August 2016).
Source: File: Lieutenant Richard Basil Brandram Jones
VC. See
an original image at: The Daily Telegraph, [online] 7 August 1916. P.3. Col.4. <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12212488/Daily-Telegraph-August-7-1916.ht,l>
[Accessed 8 August 2016]
May 1916; at the front line of Vimy -
Men of the 8th Battalion Lancashire
Regiment, were taking part in fight
For objective; Broadmarsh Crater.
Time 7.30 p.m. one platoon under
Their Officer, Lieutenant Jones,
Were forced to shelter in defence
Of the gained crater - now cut off.
Having just turned 19, the month
Before, Lieutenant Richard Basil
Brandram Jones, set to encourage
Calm among the trapped platoon.
Young Jones, aged 17, had signed Up for active Service, commissioned
In Oct 2 1914 - by 1915 Jones
Was in France
as a sniping officer.
In the fight for Vimy the Lancashires
Led by Lieutenant Richard Jones
Had made their way in the thick of
Battle, to
reach Broadmarsh objective.
In the chaos they found themselves
Separated as their own side retaliated;
While retaliation of the enemy's gas
And shells fell thickly all around them.
Then at 7.30 p.m. precisely, the enemy
Set off a mine, forty yards to their right.
A renewed barrage intensified over
The position, increasing their isolation.
All must have seemed against them,
As the men began to feel deserted.
The 19-year-old Lt. Jones, his voice
Lifting, reassured them it was not over.
The looming enemy infantry began
To charge - in the surge of example
Lt. Jones aimed his revolver by count
Of number, shot down enemy numbers.
1 2 3 4 5…15… the mens keen voices
Cheered their officer - now encouraged
They held their ground - when his gun
Clicked empty, Lt. Jones took a bomb.
Holding it as some cricket ball, he
Took a moment - then lifted himself
Up to make a better throw, but fell as
Some stray shot hit him in the head.
With the platoon left to fend alone, they
Did so - to fire and throw bombs until
All were gone - as the enemy charged
They threw ammo cases and stones.
As their numbers
slowly depleted,
The nine that
were left abandoned
Their crater -
leaving the dead and
Lt. Jones, his
body never to be found.
By Jamie Mann.
Anon.,1916. Nine
New V.C.'S - Thrilling War Stories - Lieutenant Richard Basil Brandram Jones
L.N. Lan. R. The Daily Telegraph, [online]
7 August 1916. P.9. Col.2. Available
at:
<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12212488/Daily-Telegraph-August-7-1916.html>[Accessed:
8 August 2016].
Source: File: Lieutenant Richard Basil Brandram Jones VC.
Available at:
<http://www.lancashireinfantrymuseum.org.uk/lieutenant-richard-basil-brandram-jones-vc/>
[Accessed 8 August 2016]
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 crumblingremains 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).
