Poem ~ Fighting Above The Mud, Monday 6 August 1917 - Wednesday 8 August 1917

Source: File: German Aerodrome. See an original image at: <http://www.earlyaeroplanes.com/archive/image5/GermanAerodromes.jpg> [Accessed 06 August 2017]

Winter in August enshrouded

In dankness; an army dug in as well

As they could into a swampland.

Vile Flemish weather created

Glutinous mud; shell holes as ponds.

As insects in a ploughed field

Walking wounded made their way as

Best they could, trying to avoid

Shelling arriving at clearing

Stations, as weary figures of mud. 

The foulest of weather was not

Confined to ground, where in the air

The forces of aircraft did not

Hesitate to take part over

Enemy territory to create havoc.

31 July saw keen embarkation

Of eager airmen to add their part,

Swooping low over marching

Heads of enemy to scatter

Them, or taking bombs to camps.

These airmen often flying low

At tree height - as one air pilot did

Till coming to an aerodrome.

He targeted the hangers - those

On ground initially saw him as own.

Then a bomb hit the first hanger

Causing panic, whilst he swooped

To the open doors firing inside -

Lifting, soaring to the second

Shed to provide a gift of a bomb.

A third hanger took another

Bomb; a delay in the handle's action

Sent fourth bomb onto ground

Near to a railway siding, close

To a train - the Germans took aim.

They fired at the English

Plane but the pilot undeterred led

Straight into them in return

Of fire, to scatter them about -

At 20ft to target the sheds again.

Firing last of his bullets the pilot

Lifted away to a cloud. With renewed

Ammunition this aerodrome

Saw the return of the flyer so

Low to skim the ground again,

Firing into hangers on mechanics.

Having left that aerodrome

In disarray, the English pilot came

Across two German officers

On horseback, to dive low

Over their heads; the horses bolted.

Further along from a height

the pilot swooped to a marching

German column, letting loose

Fire In their midst, they scattered

To seek safety in ditch and hedge.

Having used all ammunition

The pilot retreated to fix a third

Drum - he emerged from

Cloud to discover German

Craft in pursuit in ariel battle.

In evasive action and

Reaction the three fought briefly,

Until in pursuit a German

Crashed to ground to see

A German crowd gather round.

Without hesitation he turned

Again and targeted the crowd.

The British pilot left them

To encounter a civil train

Finishing bullets returned to base.

by Jamie Mann.

Gibb.P,1917. Heroic Airman In The Battle Of Flanders -Amazing Exploits. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 03 August 1917. P.5. Col.5-6. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12214748/Daily-Telegraph-August-3-1917.html [Accessed: 06 August 2017].

Mann, J., 2016. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 06 August 2017). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12214748/Daily-Telegraph-August-3-1917.html

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

#WW1 #WW1centenary #GreatWar #WW1poem #GreatWar #WW1centenary #worldwarone #worldwaroneremembered #WW1Belgium 

Poem ~ Paris Attacks - Tuesday, 31 July 1917

Source: File: From Geographical Imaginations: Is Paris Burning? A look-out man operates a portable siren above the city. See an original image at: <https://geographicalimaginations.com/2012/10/20/is-paris-burning/> 
[Accessed 31 July 2017]

Within war comes propaganda;

Opposing sides give denial

Of what the other side says.

Arial activity over the capital

Of France, found multiple
German bombing air raids.

As a precaution army of Paris
Firemen warned the people
Of enemy crafts approaching.

Weird, unusual sounds stirred

Paris, as firemen on roofs blew

On bugles or sounded sirens.

Above air raid alarms French

Air craft took flight over city,

In a darkening, melting sky.

Ground and sky became

As one - deep darkness cut

By beams of searchlights.

German official reports told
Of railways targeted in Paris,
To hit their mark with damage.

By Saturday, French replies

Made denial - that enemy

Planes had left no destruction.

Neither material loss nor loss

Of life - wireless messages

Were received by Admiralty.

Yet Parisian military bases

And railways were hit, with
German pilots safely returned.

Sunday July 29th, a Journal

Told of a suburban air raid

To describe damages done.

One store of combustibles

had been hit - also a factory

Yard, to leave small effects.

Two more fell appropriately

Into gutters, while shell havoc

Hit beds of innocent cauliflowers.

Any resulting explosions

Lacked involved descriptions,

As another bomb hit a centre.

Noted as important, maybe

Military, one turret exploded;

Being close to civilian houses.

The blast blew out material

To injure a single sleeping lady -

More bombs harmlessly fell.

Some hit one large enclosure,

With three in a boulevard -

Another damaged flowerbeds.

Sunday 29 July saw repeat.

30 minutes after midnight

Came the sounds of bugles.

Firemen called reveille and

Again set sirens loud across

Sleepy Paris, all as a caution.

Readied French squadrons

Took action to flight; reportedly

Sending enemy backwards.

News via Petit Journal, from
Versailles said bombs exploded,

All lost in the open countryside.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1917. Bombs On Paris - No Victims Or Damage. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 30 July 1917. P.4. Col.6. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12214740/Daily-Telegraph-July-30-1917.html [Accessed: 31 July 2017].

Mann, J., 2016. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 31 July 2017). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12214740/Daily-Telegraph-July-30-1917.html

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

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

Poem ~ Swiss Bombed - Tuesday, 4 April 1916

Impression sketch of Cartoon showing Germans dropping bombs on Porrentruy, Switzerland - by Jamie. From an original image that can be seen at: <http://aetdebesancon.blog.lemonde.fr/2016/04/04/cinq-bombes-sur-porrentruy/> [Accessed: 3 April 2016] 

An enforced pressured conversation

Occurred, between Swiss Federal

Council and Imperial German

Government, over an incident.

31 March 1916, German aviators

Dropped a number of bombs

Onto Porrentruy - a village

Of neutral Switzerland.

Extolling apologies, the German

Government gave explanation

That the aviators had totally

Lost their flight bearings.

The German aviators believed

They were still over French

Soil - that Belfort, a border

Town, was directly below.

In fact, Germans were 40 km away,

Flying over Swiss border village

Porrentruy - where five bombs

Caused civilian casualties.

The act had happened with two

German aircrafts over Swiss

Jura - where sub alpine was

A state mountain range.

The situation fell under canton

Of Bern's administration, that

Held a sympathetic union

With the French Swiss.

With close held French ties, this

Prompted solid anti German

Feelings; from the actions

Of five bombs on Swiss.

The incident was then reported

In the Petit Comtois - whose

Reporter quoted locals, as

Saying this was no error.

Whereas the French towns were

Under Curfews, Porrentruy had

No such light restrictions and

Belfort was the larger town.

As a country, Switzerland kept up

Stand of their armed neutrality -

Having arms only in purposes

Of self-protection defence.

Ready for insurgence from any

Other nation, the Swiss army

Manned all borders; against

Spilling over of trench war.

In this incident Government

Of Germany extolled deep

Regret - that the aviators

Would be punished.

Further they prompted suggestion

That some visible demarcation

Of the frontier may be made,

To prevent other repeats.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1916. Bombs On Swiss Town - German Apologies. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 3 April 1916. P.6. Col.1. Available at: <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12206737/Daily-Telegraph-April-4-1916.html>  [Accessed: 4 April 2016].

Mann, J., 2016. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 4 April 2016). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12206737/Daily-Telegraph-April-4-1916.html

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

#WW1 #WW1centenary #GreatWar #WW1poem #GreatWar #WW1centenary #worldwarone #worldwaroneremembered #WW1Switzerland

Poem ~ Dover Air Raid Deaths - Tuesday, 21 March 1916

Impression sketch of Edith Stoker and Francis Hall - by Jamie. Original images can be seen at : <http://www.doverwarmemorialproject.org.uk/casualtyindex.htm> [Accessed: 21March 2016]

i

With a maritime history and position,

The port of Dover had always been

Central to England’s defences - across

Time and wars, to look across the sea.

Seated at an extreme position at foot

Of south East England, where land

Once linked to an ancient world - long

Fallen to sea, forming a lone island.

There, where white cliffs formed Albion

In the county of Kent, channel waters

Made a natural defence to ambitious

Invaders - making Dover a prime target.

A prime port as link for Empires troops

In embarkation and arrivals, to be where

First bomb of 1914 fell on English soil;

Close to Dover castle, Christmas Eve.

A dirty white wall of chalky earth defiantly

Stood, formed a bright landmark guide

To hunters of new warfare, from winged

Crafts and the deadly zeppelin types.

ii

19 March 1916, being any normal day

saw strategy of a German bombing raid,

As life for the ordinary folk unraveled

In the light of a Sunday, given to rest.

Above a blue Dover sky buzzed aircraft

Tracing the chalk cliffs to find its target -

With Dover’s military and naval presence,

A bomb was thrown amid civilian houses.

Inside homes the sounds of flying craft

Alerted helpers, who carried a bedridden
Lady of 80, to safety of ground, as bricks

And mortar shook - her bedroom blew up.

As an invader swooped another bomb

Struck in destruction, killing a woman

Outright - the force of the explosion

Injuring another woman next door.

Elsewhere unaware of any imminent 

Danger A young Edith Stoker, out on

A free Sunday afternoon, took to her

Bike, setting off towards to Folkestone.

iii

Edith Stokes housemaid of Mrs Hart

Of Maison Dieu Road cycled, to turn

Around a corner of the main road,
To know soon she would see her love.

Having left her employer's house,

Edith rode onto Folkstone Road -

Moving over the railway, she moved

About a boy walking in the street.

Startled both looked up at the sudden

Screech - Edith clasping handlebars,

As a bomb crashed to the tramlines

The blast lifted her from the cycle.

Flying sideways across the road,

Edith struck the door of 131 -

The stationer’s shop of Mr Tarrant,

Where she lay in the entrance.

One minute from Folkstone Road,

Winchelsea Street was home

To Francis Amos Hall - he closed

The gate of number 23 on his way.

iV

That day his father, working as

A railway guard, had left on London

Train - his mother stayed home while

Francis walked to Sunday School.

With a year to his twelfth birthday,

Francis walked along Folkestone

Road, he stopped at sounds above;

A biplane swooped across the town.

At 23 Winchelsea Street, Mrs Hall

Heard the noise of aircraft overhead,

With her son outside, she rushed

To the road intending to find him.

Frances ran back over the tramlines

As girl on a cycle swerved round him -

Startled, Francis heard a rushing noise,

A bomb was falling - he turned to run.

Mrs Hall was close to Folkestone road,

As she saw her boy running towards

Her and home - then came a flash as

An air bomb struck, close to Francis.

V

Nearby a gentleman ran over to help,

Where he saw the distressed mother

of a fallen boy - He knelt to see brief

Reactions in his eyes, moving once.

The stranger felt him slump but said

Nothing - nearby a young woman was

Found injured in a shop door, both
Driven to the hospital full of casualties.

From her severe injuries Edith Stoker

Died aged 23 - a daughter of a Sergeant 
Major Pensioner - born in Singapore,

Until Dover became the family home.

In finally learning that her son had died,

Mrs Hall was comforted by staff, 'as best

They could' - on his return home Mr Hall
Found unwashed blood on his son's face.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1916. Blown Across A Road. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 21 March 1916. P.9. Col.6. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12196087/Daily-Telegraph-March-21-1916.html [Accessed: 21 March 2016].

Mann, J., 2016. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 21 March 2016). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12196087/Daily-Telegraph-March-21-1916.html

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

#WW1 #WW1centenary #WW1poem #GreatWar #WW1centenary #worldwarone #worldwaroneremembered #WW1Dover

Poem ~ A. Fokkers Machine Gun - Sunday, 23 January 1916

Source: File: Pilot Roland Garros.jpg. [online] see an original image at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Roland_Garros_%28aviator%29.jpg> Accessed: 23 January 2016].

Impression sketch of Anthony Herman Gerard Fokker - by Jamie.

While the Fokker types had been fighting

The skies for some time already,

It came to be heard in the French British

Headquarters, of Berlin's jubilations

For the latest Fokker Type's success.

From the early days of observer crafts,

To the types on both sides to drop

Bombs on their opponent’s soil, restless

Innovations went stages further,

Adding machinery of mounted guns.

While there had been varying successes,

A big step had been made by French -

No April's Fool, Roland Garros took to sky

1 April 1915 - to pilot his aircraft,

Fitted with a specialist machine gun.

Armor plating had been fitted to the lower

Blades, added to deflect any bullets

Most likely to damage spinning propellers -

This success led to five kills;

In a short time Garros became an ace.

Within twenty days pilot Garros' craft

Was taken down behind enemy

Lines - German aircraft builder Anthony

Fokker was under rapid orders,

To replicate the French gun's ability.

Overcoming the Frenchman's rudimentary

Methods, to allow propeller's action

To take control of the firing mechanism -

The bullets would fly through

Gaps of the spinning aircraft blades.

The skeptic Generals saw the success

Of a demonstration, to order

Fokker to take to the sky in a practical

Test - when on targeting a French

Plane Fokker declined to make a kill.

Fokker the engineer was not a killer -

To tell the Generals they would

Have to take that step - this they did

As a German pilot proved

The effectiveness of gun's success.

This fact soon became obvious

To those of the allied crafts -

As the numbers of Fokkers being

Responsible for downing

Allies - seen as temporary advantage.

In order to influence allied optimism,

Given opposition of enemy

Purposes, who faced allied spirits -

To send ten British planes 
For every German who ventured close.

Temporary Fokkers successes lay 
Under the banner of what 
was in preparation - that revelations

Would be soon flying out

From Britain's upcoming surprises. 

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1916. Air Fights In France - Britain's Coming 'Surprises'. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 22 January 1916. P.10. Col.5. Available at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12108572/Daily-Telegraph-January-22-1916.html [Accessed: 22 January 2016].

Mann, J., 2016. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 22 January 2016). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12108572/Daily-Telegraph-January-22-1916.html

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

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Poem ~ In The Lap of a Dead Man - Saturday, 15 January 1916

Impression sketch of Flying Corps Officer crawling to pilots seat - by Jamie.

With the fearless nature of youth,

That has a tendency to try

Anything new - were proof

Of right stuff for the Flying Corps.

Such were the type as those two

That took off on a course -

At 10,000 feet into danger

Of airspace to encounter enemy.

One young flying Corps officer

Returned a letter home,

To tell of both their fates,

As they flew in clouds to fight.

In the front seat of the aircraft,

An officer led challenge,

As two German planes

Opened up gunnery at them.

The fight reached a stage, when

The burst of a shell close by,

Shook the craft - shrapnel

Burst through the air past him.

Within five, ten, twenty seconds,

The craft fell, twisting

Down to five thousand

Feet, the craft rocked as he looked.

The young pilot Barnaby, aged 19,

Was dead from shrapnel -

The only thing he could do

Was to reach the controls behind.

In the swaying air he made a move,

And climbed to sit on dead

Barnaby’s lap to pull controls,

Levelling out of that death plunge.

Cutting out the engine the officer

Guided the craft to ground -

Knowing Barnaby's death

At 10,000 feet, gave him time to act.

Admitting to his shock, the officer

Told how he forget virtually

Everything over two days -

When captured in December 1915.

Such can be the brazenness of youth

To approach game combat

As a sport - to meet victorious

To shake hands in fight's conclusion.

In meeting the English speaking

German, he learned how

His machine gun forced

Him down - having shot petrol tank.

By mutual English acquaintance,

Two German officers,

Gave him champagne

And dinner of oysters, in civil irony.

From honour among pilots, perhaps

Knowing shared dangers -

He arrived at a prisoner

Of war camp to share with officers.

The observer concluded to say how

Playing tennis and hockey,
With eight English officers

Helped cure shock; being well treated.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1916. Thrilling Air Fight - Descent With A Dead Pilot. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 15 January 1916. P.10. Col.3. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12093316/Daily-Telegraph-January-15-1916.html [Accessed: 15 January 2016].

Mann, J., 2016. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 15 January 2016). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12093316/Daily-Telegraph-January-15-1916.html

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

#WW1 #WW1centenary #GreatWar #WW1poem #GreatWar #WW1centenary #worldwarone #worldwaroneremembered #WW1Aircraft

Poem ~ Sky Pursuit - Thursday, 14 October 1915

Impression sketch of Sky Pursuit  - by Jamie
With the Champagne campaign close

To reaching its height, a two man

French crew took flight; their mission

To destroy an enemy railway station.

Within a cloudy sky, the French craft

Was to come face to face with a German

Aircraft, formed of a substantial size.

This a double engine air Cruiser in fast

Flight undaunted them who set to engage -

French bullets rattled across the space

Between them - when the gun jammed.

The observer shouted to the pilot

To dive - equally adept and instantly

The German also spiralled after them.

The French observer was hindered

By 90mm bombs – knowing that

If need to crash land they would blow -

He hurriedly removed the fuses.

On taking out the last one, a bullet

Hit him in the back - then another

Cut his wrist, as part of a propeller

Hit his eye - the observer held on.

Then the craft under assault, jerked

As the pilot shouted he had been

Hit in the stomach - he collapsed.

The observer took to the controls -

Managing to level off he saw

Sunlight shine on helmets below -

Were they falling to enemy lines?

The pilot called out, beneath them

Were French lines - in safety they

Hit ground - badly hurt both men

Were advised for Legion of honour.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1915. French Airman's Pluck - Fight With Big Aeroplane. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 13 October. P.7. Col.3. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11922630/Daily-Telegraph-October-13-1915.html [Accessed: 14 October 2015].

Mann, J., 2015. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 14 October 2015). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11922630/Daily-Telegraph-October-13-1915.html

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

#WW1 #WW1centenary #GreatWar #WW1poem #GreatWar #WW1centenary #worldwarone #worldwaroneremembered #WW1French