Poem ~ The Limb Factory - Monday, 10 April 1916

Impression sketch of wounded recovering at Roehampton House - by Jamie. From an original image that can be seen at: <http://digital.nls.uk/great-war/soldier/wounded/queen-marys.html> [Accessed: 10 April 2016]

One of many British towns,

Set in the Severn Valley Shropshire,

Bridgnorth - divided into

High Town and Low Town - as with

Other commune’s volunteers,

Would number 255 men

In the first months of war.

One young man among

The many was, in 1911, working

In a fish and poultry shop -

To live with his mother on Listley

Street - among the first this

Eli Jones enlisted 11 August

To join Coldstream Guards.

Part of the Expeditionary

Army, the 1st Battalion Coldstream

Guards were to see action

About Le Bassee - there Private

Eli Jones was to join the

Battalion - who, having been

In action, now reformed.

In the fifth month of war

An inspection by the King, meeting

The Coldstream Battalion

On a wet 3 December - with Private

Eli Jones possibly among

The new draft - afterwards

At Strazeele training ground.

Private Eli showed promise

Enough, to become Lance Corporal

By 19 December - the day after,

Orders came to march to Givenchy -

The task was to recapture

Trenches taken by Germans

A day before - in two days of fights.

While the forces was relieved

On 22, 185 other ranks were reported

Missing or wounded - likely

Lance Corporal Jones was among

Missing - his severe wounds

Preventing his moving until

Rescued from the battlefield.

The state of his injuries made

It necessary to amputate both legs

Above the knee joint - after

Recovery he arrived back in England,

New Years day 1915; the date

Eli Jones officially became

Lance Corporal Jones.

War awareness of the home

Front, had recognised soldier's needs.

In new style warfare, with

Injuries resulting from loss of limbs.

At the sight of amputees, Mary

Eleanor Gwynne Holford visited

Queen Alexandra's Hospital.

After her meeting with a private

Chapman, whose wounds had left him

Without both arms, she saw

Wards of disabled men  - Mrs Holford

Considered how they should

Not be discharged home too

Soon, without rehabilitation.

What these severely wounded

Soldiers needed were correct fittings

Of artificial limbs - with her

Connections of high profile figures,

Mrs Holford set out to raise

A public appeal by use of press,

To raise substantial funds.

On passing through the wards,

The sight of disabled men prompted

Her to think, their discharge

Home should include correct fitting

Of a suitable, artificial limb.

With help Mary set to raise

Monies, appealing to public.

The result formed into shape

Of a rehabilitation hospital - a chosen

Site was a soldier’s billet

Of Roehampton House, a stately home

Requisitioned by war office -

From an idea February 1915

The doors opened 28 June 1915.

Success of Roehampton House

Continued to grow - with up numbers

Of patients at 100, arriving

Each week - Lance Corporal Eli Jones

Being a Coldstream Guard

Was one of Double amputees

Who came to notice of press.

Having been a client, of what

Became known as the human repair

Factory, the story noted that

On joining up he was 6ft 2 1/2 inches -

When, for convenience sake

His artificial limbs shortened

His stature down to 5 ft 10 in.

Such story might not be spoilt

By truth, as indicated by his attestation

Papers, stating he was 5ft 9 3/8,

Disputing truth of newspapers, although

The report went on to tell how

Eli Jones, discharged from army

16 August 1915, had a new task.

The ex soldier was employed

By makers of artificial limbs, J.F Rowley.

That each day only with help

Of a walking stick Eli Jones walks over

The workshops of Roehampton

House, to assist making artificial

Legs for his maimed comrades.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1916. Limbs For Maimed Heroes - Guardsman's Reduced Stature. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 7 April 1916. P.3. Col.2. Available at: <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12208472/Daily-Telegraph-April-7-1916.html>  [Accessed: 10 April 2016].

Source: File: The Human Repair Factory at Roehampton - Rehabilitation of Amputees. Online. Available at: <http://blog.maryevans.com/2013/09/the-human-repair-factory-at-roehampton-rehabilitation-of-amputees.html> Accessed 10 April 2016

Source: File: Lost Hospitals Of London - Queen Mary's Hospital. Online. Available at: <http://ezitis.myzen.co.uk/queenmaryroehampton.html> Accessed 10 April 2016

Source: File: History of the Bridgnorth War Memorial - Private Eli Jones. Online. Available at: <http://www.greglewin.co.uk/Memorial/history.php> Accessed 10 April 2016

Mann, J., 2016. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 10 April 2016). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12208472/Daily-Telegraph-April-7-1916.html

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Poem ~ Washing of a Lady Signaller - Tuesday, 9 February 1915

Following heavy action in Ypres,

A Sergeant of the Coldstream

Guards, arrived at Scarborough

Hospital for treatment. He told

Two tales - a German ruse,

By lingual ability, and a clever

Method of enemy signalling.

Within a localised operation,

The Guards held onto a certain

Trench - believed to be of some

Importance - therefore to cause

A threat of a bayonet attack.

The significance of the British

Officer’s name of George,

Played a part in his tale.

Within the height of the fight,

Was raised stern words,

Of a sudden command.

The voice in English called

‘Clear your trench George!’

In reaction to undertake

The given order, the officer

Witnessed how the speaker,

Was taken down before him;

The German fell at his feet.

The Injured Sergeant

Also told another tale,

Of a woman in the locality,

Who proved her treachery

To the English army.

Believed to be a Belgian,

The woman lived in a cottage, 

That stood upon a hill, within

Sight of the German Lines.

Her method in assisting

The enemy, was to hang

Out washing every morning.

So all British reinforcement

Movement's, were indicated

Bu the washing's presence.

She pegged out two shirts,

To show how the English

Were short handed – if then

Every thing then went out

Onto the line, this indicated

The reserves had arrived.

In this realisation of a clever  

Woman's signalling method,

This Belgian was arrested.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1915. Fighting at Ypres – German Soldier’s Ruse. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 1 Jan. P.10. Col.3. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11393528/Daily-Telegraph-February-9-1915.html [Accessed: 9 February  2015].

Mann, J., 2015. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 9 February 2015). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11393528/Daily-Telegraph-February-9-1915.html

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

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Poem ~ Two Privates Rescue Colonel - Friday, 31 October 1914

Speaking to the Birmingham Daily Mail,

Private G Jones, of the 1st Battalion

Coldstream Guards, returned home

From the military hospital at Chelsea,

Having received wounds at the Aisne.

On the 14 September forces began

To push forward from the river Aisne.

Late morning; the advance situation

Halted for the Coldstream Guards.

The 2^nd Brigade heavily being engaged,

The 1^st Brigade moved to help gain

Positions on the other company’s left,

At the top of the ridge the 1^st Cameron

Highlanders and 1^st Coldstream Guards

Caught by enemy artillery and machine

Gun fire, found themselves stalled there.

Forming an ad hoc company from

2^nd Brigade, the Coldstream’s,

Cameron Highlanders and Black

Watch, Colonel Ponsonby led them

Across the Chemin des Dames.

A Birmingham man, Private Jones

Was in the advance party, under orders

To move towards the German lines.

Through fog they made their way,

To the far end of the captured ridge

And the village of Cerny - taking

Themselves deep in German lines.

Coming to a halt on that spot,

For the remainder of that day.

In the cover of night  they made

Discovery, finding a German position

Of Maxim guns - to find they had been

Cut off from their own British side.

The fight over the Chemin des Dames

By the days end, had become stalemate.

The Germans could not be pushed off

The ridge and the British could not be

Pushed back across the Aisne.

Units that had advanced were pulled

Back - in torrents of rain and deep mud,

The first spadefuls of earth were thrown;

So began the birth of trench warfare.

In moving into the German position, 

Firing began - falling in front of them

Was their Colonel Ponsonby, who lay

Out in the open, under German guns.

Fearful that their Colonel might be

Dead, Private Vennicombe and friend,

Private Jones, decided to reach him.

The two of them, under hails of bullets,

Dashed across darkness to the Colonel.

Shot in the leg, the Colonel was alive

But unable to walk – With quick effort

They carried the officer back between

Them, safely reaching the other men.

Due to their lack of force, the decision

Was taken for them to retire – placed in

A difficult position, being cut off from

Their battalion, they were now a party

Of 40 - with 3 officers.  Making further

Difficulty was an inability to tell their

Exact position, within the battlefield.

Coming into their company came

Captain William Warde Aldham an

Officer of the Black Watch, appointed

Their leader. In the dark, with a compass

He led them to a wooded position,

That had been noted early that evening,

A place known to have a village nearby.

In cover  of trees they placed sentries

About the party in an attempt to rest.

Then in discovery, they realised the wood

Was between two German outposts, seeing

Enemy soldiers moving in the distance.

Shapes of a German convoy moved close

By -  but their lack of numbers meant their

Party could not make any successful attack.

Rain had, for some time, been falling

Hard - which while hiding them, turned

The ground to mud – any movement

Between the trees, was made difficult

With any noise likely to raise the alarm.

Moving at one mile every hour

Four men took turns to carry the Colonel.

The party made its slow, trudging way

Through the woods and by light,

Managed to rejoin their full company.

In the dark rain, they had passed

Through German outer lines, covering

Almost six miles in the night.

Colonel Ponsonby returned home to

Recuperate and in gratitude to the two

Birmingham men, gave Private Jones

A presentation, to put him forward for

Recommendation - Private Vennicombe

Since then went missing in action,

With the hope that he was taken prisoner.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1914. Battle Stories – Rescuing a Wounded Colonel. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 31 Oct. p.4. Col.4. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11186100/Daily-Telegraph-October-31-1914.html [Accessed: 31 October 2014].

Dickerson, B.J., 2009. Submitted by SteveMerc Globe at War - 1/Black Watch on the Aisne. [online] (Updated Saturday, 16 September 2014) Available at: < http://www.globeatwar.com/blog-entry/1black-watch-aisne> Accessed 31st October 2014].

Mann, J., 2014. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 31 October 2014). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11186100/Daily-Telegraph-October-31-1914.html

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Poem ~ Stalemate and German Trick - Wednesday, 28 October 1914

Near Troyon, during the Battle of the Aisne,

Various incidents involved a detachment,

Of a Northamptonshire regiment, showing

Cool bravery and dogged determination.

160 men, two subalterns, three officers,

And a captain - being some way ahead,

Of the main body, set to make entrenchments

By a roadside. Opposite  them up to 500

Germans were also entrenched - between,

Lay a turnip field - some 250 yards wide.

Finding their trench fed by waters rolling

Off the road, the British quickly found

Themselves knee deep in water logged mud.

a lack of greatcoats, lost in their retreat from

Mons only added to make rest problematic,

Along with the need to observe the enemy.

General discomfort further caused by shelling

From the German guns, set behind the enemy

Entrenchments – the British finding at their rear

Shelter and a haystack, where seventy German

Wounded remained - left by their own forces.

This basic 'hospital' where the deserted, injured

Germans lay, lucky to still receive treatment,

Could only be accessed by a man crawling

On all fours – bundles of hay were gathered,

Utilised in trying to dry the ground of the trench -

Again and again the water percolated through.

To gain water and bully beef men had to crawl

At night to the rear - Equally the German side

Dared not lift above ground for fear of British

Shots. During the five days a British Captain

Lifted his head to the skyline, to be shot dead.

Later a subaltern being severely hit, also died.

The result as a single subaltern with less than

A year’s service, was forced to take charge.

The haystack sheltering German wounded

Was finally hit by a shell and set ablaze.

Under heavy fire men in the British trench

Could not move to assist them – they heard

The yells and horrendous cries of wounded

Men unable to escape from the fierce fire.

As each day passed in the Northamptonshire

Trench – the  appalling conditions made ague.

While increased wounds reduced the effective

Fighters  - among the company a man, a crack

Shot, took action on successive nights -

Camouflaged with a wool knitted hat, disguised

With turnip leaves, crawled into the turnip crop.

The Northamptonshire sniper waited, patient,

Until any German movement was made - then

A trigger pulled, a pained cry and one foe less -

After more days came the end of the stalemate.

The Germans, believing in the British strength,

Raised arms and rifles in surrender - in scattered

Formation, marching to them across the field.

Cautiously the subaltern left the English trench

To meet the enemy – A German private moved

To him, but the subaltern made the insistent order

That an officer should approach – the private retired.

Then another private came forward - Again a yelled

Command was made for an officer – then came

Forward a captain, a sergeant and a private.

The English subaltern waited and addressed them;

‘You are my prisoner.’ The German captain snapped

‘No, you are my prisoner!’ – while the original idea

Was to surrender, their intentions changed when

the Captain glanced into the English trench to see 

A greatly depleted force,  The German Captain

Made a signal to his men, about the field to move.

They edged towards the subaltern - under the threat

Of the Captain's intent, the subaltern fired and shot

Him dead - he turned and killed the sergeant.

The private leapt at the subaltern and they fought

Falling on the ground - as German shots rang about.

The subaltern fell down unconscious – two shots

Had passed into the top of his cap a third hit his

Regimental cap badge to stun him - a fourth bullet

Wounded him in the shoulder. At the very outset

Of the event, some Northamptonshire soldiers 

Had also left their trench as a number of Germans

Handed over their rifles to shake hands with them.

Other Germans edged towards the trench, then

At the parapet, opened fire at point blank range.

A skirmish ensued, as a machine gun opened fire

On the Germans, to cut them down, while others

Fell to the bayonet – 300 out of 500 being killed.

At a short distance, a machine gun detachment

Of the Queen’s regiment, had observed and made

Assistance - in the force of Coldstream Guards

The final 100 German infantry surrendered.

Over the five days of the Northamptonshire

Trench of the soldiers left, from the original 166

Were eight and four wounded men still fighting fit.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1914. Thrilling Story of Fight Against Heavy Odds – Subaltern’s Adventure. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 28 Oct. p.12. Col.7. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11186051/Daily-Telegraph-October-28-1914.html [Accessed: 28 October 2014].

Mann, J., 2014. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 28 October 2014). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11186051/Daily-Telegraph-October-28-1914.html

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

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