Poem ~ German Activity in America - Wednesday, 3 February 1915

Source: File: The bridge between Vanboro, Maine, and St. Croix.jpg, 2014. Werner Horn's St. Croix bridge bombing in WW I happened 100 years ago today (Submitted by Gregg Centre for the Study of War and Society) Posted: Feb 02, 2015 1:02 PM AT. 3 February 1915. [online] Available at:<http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/werner-horn-s-st-croix-bridge-bombing-in-ww-i-happened-100-years-ago-today-1.2940299> [Accessed: 3 February 2015].

Source: File: Werner Horn.jpg, 2015. Werner Horn's St. Croix bridge bombing in WW I happened 100 years ago today (Submitted by Gregg Centre for the Study of War and Society) Posted: Feb 02, 2015 1:02 PM AT. 3 February 1915. [online] Available at:<http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/werner-horn-s-st-croix-bridge-bombing-in-ww-i-happened-100-years-ago-today-1.2940299> [Accessed: 3 February 2015].

Across major cities of America, 1915 -

To include Chicago, New York and Boston,

Were thousands of young men - disaffected

Germans - leaving their jobs, in their desire

To return to Germany and join the army

Of their homeland to fight the war.

They found they could not gain any sea

Passage - such men across United States 

Began to lose their initial eager enthusiasm,

To support the Kaiser - decided to remain -

And wait  - hoping for any kind of change.

One man of German nationality,

By name of Werner Von Horn, spent

Weeks of winter residing In New York.

He stood out on street corners to lecture

Views on German doctrines of culture –

His intention to gain support, from fellow

Nationals, to unite in forming an attack -

The target was Vancouver in Canada.

A telegram of 2 February provided

Information that In New Brunswick a rail

Bridge over the St Croix River - for Canadian

Pacific Rail lines was blown - the cause

Was found to be dynamite charges.

On the American side, an arrest was

To made of Werner Horn - the German

Who claimed to be an officer, in the Kaiser’s

Army - the five foot eleven, 37 year old man,

Admitted to using the dynamite - he had

Acquired on the Canadian border side.

The reason he gave for destruction

Was that his country was at war with

Canada – who was acting as ally of Britain –

He claimed no extrication, under United

States law was possible, as his actions

Were entirely a political offence.

An authorised official report, issued

From Montreal - stated that the Canadian

Pacific Railway bridge of Vanceboro, gained

Only slight damage  - this would not stop

Transportation of war materials - trains

Without engines, could still cross.

For any resident American Germans,

That may have tried some kind of acting out

Of aggression, the Canadian authorities were

Now alert - aware of movements of their disaffection.

As in the prevention of Fenian raids of 1870s,

They would monitor them – a result was an

Increased patrols along frontiers.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1915. Dynamite Outrage – Canadian Pacific – Bridge Blown Up. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 3 Feb. p.10. Col.6. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11380300/Daily-Telegraph-February-3-1915.html [Accessed: 3 February  2015].

Mann, J., 2014. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 23 February  2015). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11380300/Daily-Telegraph-February-3-1915.html

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

#WW1 #WW1centenary #GreatWar #WW1poem #GreatWar #ww1centenary #worldwarone #worldwaroneremembered #WW1America

Poem ~ Tommy Rescues French Girl - Wednesday, 30 December 1914

Returning from the Ypres front,

A Tommy was in slow recovery,

From frostbite and pneumonia -

He found himself in Paris, to stay

On Christmas Eve - to take

A walk down by the river Seine.

A cycle messenger, in employ,

Of a Telegraph correspondent -

In return from the Post Office,

Having dispatched that night's

Official news Communiqué -

He cycled by the river Seine.

A young lady, also stepped out

In the cold night - was walking

Over the Pont Royal - to look

Across the Seine's dark waters -

She had arrived there, in Paris

As a refugee from the North.

There were few people about -

In the distance figures moved,

Hurrying home or shelter - not

To linger - kept down their heads.

Another soldier that smoked,

Took each stride with purpose.

These four figures converged,

Separately to a point - to link

In an act of  rescue from despair.

The girl stared down with tears,

In her saddened eyes - learning

How her lover, an infantry soldier,

Had been killed at the front.

In the only clothes she had,

Her decision of fate was made,

She could not stand the loss.

So pulling herself to the edge,

Allowed herself to plunge down

Into the black water - to embrace

The numbing cold, to take her.

The Tommy passing close by,

Saw the action of the dark figure -

A girl, who he had seen to ignore

His shouts - So he ran, throwing

Off coat and cap and dived in

After her. The cyclist surprised,

Had stopped his bike - at haste,

He sped down to the bank -

At the same time as  the other

Soldier ran to the rescuers aid.

On hitting the water, the shock

Knocked her breath quite away -

As she felt the sudden sinking

Of a bitter embrace - seconds

Became as eternity and she felt

Her senses dissolving forever,

In last moments to see her lover.

Her lover now came towards her,

His spirit swimming in cold waters -

And he reached out as silhouette,

To take hold of her in his darkness -

So she might drown in his embrace.

Then the shock of sudden breath,

Filled her again, as his hands held

Her - in flashes of light and black,

There were shouts and arms about

Her - once again in the cold air,

Wetness made her shiver with life -

Men’s faces but none was her lover.

By protest she raised her voice,

The cyclist interpreted her wish,

That she did not want to live.

‘Tell her mate, that, we all need

To – for as long as possible.’

The rescuer and rescued pulled,

To the bank sodden and entangled.

With their deed done, the girl was

Seen to safety, as the soldiers

Went on their way – this girl's

Gratitude was found as she came

To learn her lover was not dead -

Discovering him in a hospital bed.

The Poilu and girl, united in love,

Their purpose, to find the name

Of the stranger - saving her giving

The Seine an unnecessary grave -

for the Tommy who risking life,

Had made their lives worth living.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1914. British Soldier's Pluck - A Gallant Rescue. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 30 Dec. p.6. Col.2. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11316452/Daily-Telegraph-December-30-1914.html [Accessed: 30 December August 2014].

Mann, J., 2014. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 30 December 2014). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11316452/Daily-Telegraph-December-30-1914.html

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

#WW1 #WW1centenary #GreatWar #WW1poem #GreatWar #ww1centenary #worldwarone #worldwaroneremembered #WW1Paris

Poem ~ Fall of Antwerp - Saturday, 10 October 1914

Wednesday, 7 October, 2.30 a.m.

Within the darkness of night, Antwerp

Is a city under siege - by 4 a.m. enemy

Attacks of heavy shells and shrapnel,

Hit upon buildings - in the city's outskirts

Including a bakery and an innocent church.

Return firing was made as naphtha shells

Burst flames in the night, making chaos,

About the exposed cathedral of 'Our Lady.'

At 8.30 a.m. the Belgians, it is reported,

Emptied huge petrol tanks into the canal

But details are curtailed by censors mark.

All Wednesday the streets are full to brim,

With frightened refugees fleeing in alarm

Of the belief that Antwerp is a city doomed.

All night had passed cold, but in a fine state,

City people emerged carrying their bedding,

Heading towards the pontoon bridge, to flee 

Towards waiting steamboats which prepare

To leave at daybreak, for ports of Folkestone

Or Ostend; Where the Belgian Government

And their legations are to make a relocation.

A pontoon bridge built upon the Scheldt River,

By Belgian army engineers - initially a lifeline

To link Antwerp's Steenplein to the far bank

Of Boeienweide - formed of linked walkways,

Between the masts of small boats - bringing

Daily supplies to the city, from the safer west,

As the Kaiser's army laid siege upon the east.

It's usage of supply access to evacuation route

For both capital of government and Royalty.

Impassable roads by the Scheldt to St Nicholas

Are made by massed vehicles, from simple gigs

To Millionaire’s motor cars - all loaded with goods

Lares and Penates – For hope people keep their

Gods close - This compelling sight, has its’ own

Unnerving beauty – Again cut by a censors mark.

At the riverside, tree reflections on silent waters,

Lit by an early morning’s slight haze - to mock

A morning stroll of city's population, who tread

Their path upon a river's paved landing piers -

Sad faces witness, to see Antwerp’s precarious,

Beauty - now at the mercy of unseen gunnery -

At any instant might savage annihilation break -

Bring to the people vivid thoughts at every step.

Further on the river, at half a mile, were moored

Eastern Railway Steamboats, whose planned

Route from Antwerp to Harwich, included Tilbury.

The waiting boats on whose decks refugees were

Being tightly packed, as a paper reporter walked

In the crowded place.  People crowded in every

Space, In chairs, or lying on floors succumbing

To fatigue’s bleak sleep, through a bleak night.

The steamers were ready to leave at dawn,

To navigate through minefields by daylight.

At 5.30 am, the began the steamers journey.

Later in the morning  by11.30 am renewed

German shelling of Antwerp, from a southerly

Direction - out of them only two fell in the city,

A shell in the Rue Volk, being witnessed as

Little more than an average firework display.

Early in the siege affecting the city’s stability,

Within the suburb of Waelhem, near Malines,

Were the waterworks, ran by an English firm,

Providing fresh water for the city’s supplies.

Where also an outlying fort, defended the city.

Both being targeted by heavy enemy shelling,

The damage forcing water needs from wells.

On noon, Wednesday, the bombing continued.

Thursday a.m. – a Rotterdam reporter from

The Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant, returned

From Antwerp, telling of the first shrapnel shells,

Raining upon the city, by Wednesday at 9 pm.

Fires then broke out around the South Station,

And of Bercham - damaging shells, fell at a rate.

Twenty shells a minute caused many fatalities

As people hurried to find shelter – damages

Were made to Antwerp’s Law Courts, museum

And Hippodrome - Belgian troops began falter,

West of the narrow river Scheldt, beaten back,

Retreating over a bridge back into the town.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1914. Bombardment of Antwerp – Buildings in flames – Terrible Plight of the Population – Shells near Cathedral. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 10 Oct. p.9. Col.4. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11149668/Daily-Telegraph-October-10-1914.html [Accessed: 10th October 2014].

Mann, J., 2014. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 10 October 2014). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11149668/Daily-Telegraph-October-10-1914.html

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

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

The pontoon bridge built upon the Scheldt River,  Antwerp 1914

Source: Epoch Times, By Associated Press, 2014. World War I Centenary: A Photographic Look Back at ‘The Great War [online] (updated 1 June 2014) Available at: <http://m.theepochtimes.com/n3/737236-world-war-i-centenary-a-photographic-look-back-at-the-great-war/> [Accessed: 10th October 2014].

  Another view of the pontoon bridge built upon the Scheldt River,  Antwerp 1914

Source: Flanders Today, 2014. Antwerp replicates famous pontoon bridge for war centenary weekend. [online] (updated 1 October 2014)  Available at: <http://www.flanderstoday.eu/art/antwerp-replicates-famous-pontoon-bridge-war-centenary-weekend> [Accessed: 10th October 2014].