Poem ~ Private Thomas Hughes VC - Friday, 3 November 1916 - Sunday, 5 November 1916

Source: File: Private Thomas Hughes VC. His injuries continued to trouble him after the war. See an original image at: <http://www.canadiancolour.ca/2015/03/11/john-chipman-kerr-vc/> [Accessed 03 November 2016]

A soldier from the British Isles infantry,

Joined the list of names from Somme

VC awards - born in Ireland Corravoo,

Castleblayney 30 May 1885; Thomas

Hughes answered the call for soldiers.

He became Private Hughes 3-5027

In the 6th Battalion, The Connaught

Rangers - aged 31 by July 1916's

Opening Somme offensive; various

Battles marked out different stages.

Two months into the onslaught saw

Concentration around the commune

Of Guillemont - on the British sector's
Right edge stood alongside French

6th army - having already seen battle.

The purpose then, was to prevent

Formation of a stronghold salient

On north side of Delville Wood, that

Was then ringed by German hold.

Here the Connaught Rangers fought.

From Irish shores Private Thomas

Hughes was no stranger to races,

Having before the war worked

As a jockey - Although this terrain

Was tough, with no sign of a horse.

Thomas worked quickly on his feet.

The official opening commenced

3 September, as Private Hughes

Dashed alongside the Rangers,

When a wound stopped his tracks.

Luckily to be just a minor injury quickly

Dressed - with impatience Hughes

Went out again - catching company

Of his fellow Rangers he looked out

To the racetrack; Hughes saw danger.

A short distance ahead Private Hughes

Spotted movement of semi-concealed

German machine gun - in surprise

Of those taking shelter Hughes sped

Into a game of dodge and running.

The machine gunner focused on

Him alone - in rapid reaction Hughes

Sprinted and zigzagged to avoid

The barrel's aim - although a bullet

Or two were to find a mark on him.

As in one moment of either then

Or nothing, Hughes did not wait

Or think, but reacted to take aim.

Hughes feet carried him fast - one

Shot and the gunner had fallen.

Suddenly Hughes found himself

At the front of the machine gun.

In shock or relief, the remainder

Of the crew put up their hands,

He marched back his prisoners.

The rangers moved on, as their

Fellow hero had remaining wounds

Dressed - With Hughes determined

Actions he was to be recommended

For an award of the Victoria Cross.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1916. Fifteen New V.C's. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 27 October 1916. P.8. Col.7. Available at: <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12213502/Daily-Telegraph-October-27-1916.html> [Accessed: 03 November 2016].

Source: File: Battle of the Somme: Tale of a forgotten Monaghan hero.

Available at: <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-36665702> [Accessed 03 November 2016]

Source: File: Thomas Hughes VC. Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Hughes_(VC)> [Accessed 03 November 2016]

Mann, J., 2016. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 03 November 2016). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12213502/Daily-Telegraph-October-27-1916.html

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

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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

#WW1 #WW1centenary #GreatWar #WW1poem #GreatWar #WW1centenary #worldwarone #worldwaroneremembered #WW1Somme

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/

#WW1 #WW1centenary #GreatWar #WW1poem #GreatWar #WW1centenary #worldwarone #worldwaroneremembered #WW1 Pozieres