Source: File: Wounded
undergoing operations WWI.
See an original image at: <http://history-help.wikia.com/wiki/File:Ww1_hospital.jpg>
[Accessed 24 March 2017]
Amid progressive
developments
Created by
situation of the war,
Were attempts by
medicine
In order to treat
severe wounds.
A son of the MP
James O'Grady,
Trade unionist of
Labour Party,
Was given cutting
edge surgery,
Badly injured
some months prior.
Severity mean
that an arm had
To be amputated -
the surgeon
Did not leave it
there, to cut
Part of the bone
from the arm.
Doing this he made the attempt
To save the
fellow's limb - an
Operation
followed to reattach
Arm once more to
the shoulder.
Severed tendons
were sewn
Back together -
this worked,
So the O'Grady
soldier was
Able to lift a
cup and drink tea.
The discernible difference was
To be that, the
arm compared
To the other arm,
was shorter;
The bone removed
2 1/2 inches.
by Jamie Mann.
Anon.,1917. A Surgical Marvel. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 8 March 1917. P.6. Col.4. Available at:
<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12214364/Daily-Telegraph-March-8-1917.html>
[Accessed: 24 March 2017].
Mann, J., 2016. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal
communication, 24 March2017).
Source: File: Private
Flora Sandes. See an original image at: <http://www.badassoftheweek.com/sandes.html> [Accessed 11 January 2017]
i
There was a girl
Flora Sandes,
Born in 1876, North Yorkshire -
Flora was a
daughter of an Irish
Clergyman Samuel
Sandes.
A middleclass
background
Of likely genteel
upbringing,
Did nothing for
the determined
Young girl, who did
not favour
Girl's dolls or
sewing - to only
Wish she might
have been a boy.
Formative years
of Flora Sandes
Saw her family
move to Suffolk,
Where she favored
hobbies
Of shooting and horse
riding.
Dreams of
adventures filled
Her young mind, as she
charged
Across fields on
horseback with
An imaginary
sword of Crimea
Status to attack
Russian rank -
Her father loved
Flora's spirit.
A proper education for
a young
Lady could do
nothing to stay
Victorian values
of feminine
Pursuits, to
favour masculinity.
18 in 1894 Flora
undertook
To train as a
stenographer -
A drive for adventure became
Funded by money
left her from
A wealthy uncle, allowing her
To undertake
travel passion.
She took a route
through Cairo,
Across the Atlantic, to travel
To Canada’s
British Columbia
And Unites States
of America.
Here the gun totting
Flora shot
A man - the act she
described
As self defence - returning home
To London she
learned to drive
And bought a French racing
Car, while joining a shooting club.
ii
Flora by 1912 was
in Serbia for the
Brief Balkan
war- where a league
Of Greece, Montenegro, Bulgaria
And Serbia faced Ottoman Empire.
The First Aid Women’s
Yeomanry
Assisted to bring
aid to wounded -
Originally from
Omdurman battle
Of 1898 - here a
wounded sergeant
Saw how many died
from lacking
First aid; his idea was a new corps.
This would be
mounted nurses,
Who could ride
onto the field
After battle, to
render first aid -
This evolved into
the Yeomanry.
As war ended in
1913 Flora was
Back home, to live
with her old
Father and nephew
Dick, where
Her boredom was evident
from
Chaotic household, until August
1914 - a fresh
war had emerged.
28 July had seen Serbia
invaded
By Austria
Hungary - within
Seven days Flora Sandes
had
Travelled into
the danger zone.
Led by Mabel
Grouitch, a unit
Of St John's
Ambulance made
Of 36 women in
Kragujevac -
On the front line
Flora nursed
In varied military
hospitals; within
A year she could
speak Serbian.
In October 1915
Flora joined
Serbian Red Cross,
alongside
The Iron Regiment, the Serbian
Army’s 2nd
Infantry Regiment.
With odds against
them Serbia
Was being forced
to retreat - escape
Could only be by
Albanian heights.
Infantry and the Red
Cross made
It to a stage where
ambulances were
Unable to pass - Flora took decision.
iii
In a declaration, Flora stated
She would become
a private
In the 2nd Regiment, taking
Off her Red Cross
badge.
A report of a
wounded soldier
Brought to notice
the unusual
Wounded fighter, in a Salonkia
Hospital filled
by male soldiers.
12 December 1916, reporter
F. Calvert met the
brown eyed
Fresh faced, cropped grey haired
Lady, at No 41
military hospital
Camp, to
accommodate 1,600
Men; Flora Sandes sat
up in bed.
Lying in the
nurses ward Sandes
Smiled to explain
the bandages
On her right hand
arm - along the
Shoulder to knee - had been injured.
Broken bones and
torn flesh were
Result of Private
Sandes encounter
With a Serbian hand
bomb - when
Assiting Serbes
clerance of a trench;
Her bravery had
been rewarded
Given by Prince
Regent of Serbia.
Days before on
behalf of the Prince,
A Royal
aid-de-camp visited Flora,
To ceremonially
award her a gold
And Silver Cross
of Kara-George.
In Serbia The
Order of Karađorđe's
Star was
that country’s highest
Decoration - for
bravery in combat -
Flora Sandes
reached under her
Pillow and held
up decorated cross
For inspection by
the reporter.
Flora’s story was
relayed to say
How she had first
entered the war
As a nurse - by the autumn retreat
Of 1915, she was
rear guard private.
iV
Private Sandes
actions led to gain
Of promotion to
Sergeant Sandes.
The army reached
Corfu to find
Recuperation - Flora was involved
Next on
Macedonian front to fight
In campaign; 12 September
1916.
More than ninety
days passed as
Sergeant Sandes fought alongside
Serbian men, every
hour filled
With frontline
acts of gunfire.
High ground made
the front,
With foe of
Bulgaro-Germans
In fight north
from Gornitchevo
And Kaymakchalan, to Hill 1,212.
Snow lay on
ground- they waited
For order to rise
up and attack.
Flora and her
soldiers paused
For some time, when order came
To attack at 7
a.m. - as officer she
Led the way, but
admitted a flaw.
Her men were faster to arrive first.
Sergeant Sandes
closed as fast
As she could to
the Bulgarian line
With some others when a grenade
Was thrown into
their midst - two
Others in
explosion fell wounded.
Close by an officer
saw her fall
And crawled across snow to Flora
And dragged her
back to rocks;
Pulled by a
broken arm caused pain.
Dressed on field
and taken away
By stretcher, she
praised her rescuers.
Grenade splinters
had caused some
25 wounds - with
some yet to be
Removed - reporter
Calvert spoke
Of her high
spirits and her request.
Asking Calvert to
gain her a volume
Of Rudyard
Kipling especially to read
'If' again; 'the
finest poem written'- words
To challenge a
son to become a man. by Jamie Mann.
Calvert, F., 1916. Woman Soldier - Fought In Serbia - Scottish Lady's
Medal. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 30 December 1916. P.11. Col.1. Available at: <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12214039/Daily-Telegraph-December-30-1916.html>
[Accessed: 11 January 2017].
Source: File: Flora Sandes. Wikipedia. Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flora_Sandes>
[Accessed 11 January 2017]
Source: File: Flora Sandes. Ellen Castelow. Available at: <http://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofBritain/Flora-Sandes/>
[Accessed 11 January 2017]
Mann, J., 2016. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal
communication, 11 January2017).
Source: File: Collecting
names of the wounded at the Somme. See an original image at: <http://greatwarproject.org/2016/07/01/extra-extra-disaster-at-the-somme/>
[Accessed 06 July 2016]
i
Survivors had
started to arrive
In London, back from
the Somme
Plains - their
stories a continuation
Of correspondent
war reports,
Where words
described the moves
Of battalions
across French fields;
The wounded gave
a new level.
'Things too big
for words,' were
Conveyed in short
sentences -
Curt, succinct
and to the point.
In terminology of
the soldier,
They hesitated
over their own
Experience, but spoke
easier
About the deeds of their pals.
In one aspect
came accounts
Of non fatal
wounds - an officer
Proudly spoke of
the men who,
As soldiers,
yelled in charges,
Eager to take
their enemy down.
In contradictions
men were all
Around, falling with
minor wounds.
By exaggerations Germans that
Amounted to dozens,
fled from
Dugouts into
sudden death -
Half starved,
without equipment -
Suggestions of abandonment By their own side - as their guns Retreated to rear, expecting attacks.
These guns, once
the front were
Taken, would
defend their other
Positions -
imagine 'Vesuvius
With a Belfast
riot,' was how one
Irish soldier
described the show -
While most
prisoners they took,
Believed they
would be shot.
ii
Without making
allusion to
Likely common
practice of 'take
No prisoners' -
one officer
Taking a wounded German,
spoke
Of terror in his eyes
at sight
Of his revolver -
both then took
A dash back
across the open.
A sprint with
death saw him
Lead the German
to a dressing
Station, under orders
to 'sit
And be good' - this
officer before
France had been
in Dardanelles,
A more sporting
place where
He gained wounds to lower spine.
His recovery from
operation
Then led him to
active service
In France - a
discovery when
Reaching the
German trenches,
Revealed well
built dugouts -
Some deep as 25
feet - with two
Exits, to be
secure and solid.
Mark, Mathew,
Luke and John
Were names of
copse' around
Which pals regiments
had dug
In - from where
another officer
Had been
observing Serre Wood;
At last, four
monotone months had
In heated fight,
ended in capture.
iii
Wounded and
casualties scales
Had not led to any
official figures -
The suggestion of
which was
Only hinted at -
eye witnesses
Accounted how,
after shells
Had stopped, out
of concrete
Emplacements emerged enemy.
They set up their deadly
machine
Guns, ready for
allied advances.
One diversionary attack had been
At Gommecourt
salient, where
London territorials
fought -
An enemy trick
had been to wait
Until the first
wave had passed.
They then emerged
to attack
Support waves -
cutting off allied
Supplies of bombs - the 56th
London Division
had at 7.30 a.m.
Crossed the first
of two German
Lines - a strongpoint
at the third
Called 'Nameless
Farm,' resisted.
British waves were
trapped behind
A barrage of heavy
German artillery.
Attempts to send
reinforcements
Failed, with a
cost of casualties.
German infantry
set to regain lost
Trenches - though isolated truces
Allowed allied
wounded to escape.
A strange unofficial,
mutual respect
Passed back and
forth, with guns
Of the German
sides to earn points, Credited as good shots - though
British guns were
keenly described
As 'wonderful' -
all methods used
In the attack
had been well planned.
iV
A meticulous
operation had led
To 1st July -
many had expected
The launch to
start 27 July, which
Was a Thursday - but
heavy rains
Had led to badly flooded grounds.
The conversation
of wounded
Stated everything
was planned.
Nothing was to be
left to chance -
This being
admitted in open talk
By men and subalterns,
who had
Been trained and clearly told, in
Every role for
advancing routes
And objectives to
be reached -
As laid out by
high command.
An eavesdropper
amid these
Wounded, the
reporter shared
Questions with a South
African
Gunner - a ready-made
veteran
Who had given up his farming
To join active service, against
German South West Africa.
Heat and thirst
were his main
Memories - over a
year's service
There, to beat
any such like
In France - he
spoke from
His London bed,
among other
Men that had been
in the push
Of the Somme, from day one.
V
The smiling
gunner wanted
News of the
gunnery action -
After eight weeks
in France
The young man was
invalided,
Disappointed in
being unable
To operate his
own 5.9 guns,
In opening bombardments.
From the neighboring
bed
Lay another soldier
- he had
Lost an eye at
the point when
They reached German
parapets -
He smiled in admittance
how
They took no prisoners,
to have
Killed around
50 Germans.
The fierce
battles evidence,
Lay in Red Cross
trains that
Still delivered
the wounded -
Meeting those men earlier from
The fight, who
might read
Between the lines
of severe
Situation,
to form a real picture.
A column might
advertise
Pockets of cheery
optimism
As the norm, with
the new
Army as 'cheerful
grumblers' -
To suggest happy wards
filled
With men - wounded
more
Than once, eager
to return.
The quote of a
catchphrase,
'Stick it like
the regulars' - Spoken from trenches to Stretchers of glory eyed Wounded - who held high
Esteem for the
first army
Of Mons, setting a tradition.
Stories would have a
public
Believe of
sanitized places
Of hospital wards, that held
Teeth clenching men, to hold
Back pain - cheery
in wounds
With smiles that
hid truths
Of Casualty Clearing Stations.
Men red raw in bloodied
khaki
Saw a triage of
a nurse, whose
Back of a hand might touch a
Man's skin, to know
if he is worth
An attempt to
save, or let
Him die from hopeless
injuries -
But there was
another story.
by Jamie Mann.
Anon.,1916. Wounded From 'The Big Push' - Graphic
Stories. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 5 July 1916. P.9. Col.6. Available at: <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12211869/Daily-Telegraph-July-5-1916.html>[Accessed:
6 July 2016].
Mann, J., 2016. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal
communication, 6 July 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).
