Poem ~ Mobbs War, Monday 13 August 1917 - Wednesday 15 August 1917

Source: File: Edgar Roberts Mobbs. See an original image at: <https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Edgar_Mobbs.jpg> [Accessed 13 August 2017]

From the Boys Own World to a world war,

Figures of standing in arts and sport,

Edged from civilian life into khaki.

Already a legend on the sports field was

Edgar Mobbs, rugby player and cricketer.

Born Northampton, Edgar Roberts Mobbs

Lived Buckinghamshire, Dartmouth

House Olney, his formative home.

At 8 years 1882 Edgar played in rugby

Team of under 10's, to follow into house team.

A knee injury aged 16 meant a break from

Rugby for 5 years; instead to play cricket

And hockey - the tallest of 4 brothers

And 2 sisters, Edgar was faired haired and

Blue eyed at 6 foot -1903 he returned to rugby.

A career of success followed, to raise his

Status to sporting star - as captain

Of Northampton Rugby Club for

6 years Mobbs scored 177 tries - 1909

He played for England against Australians.

With his stature, physique, strength

And pace, Edgar was made a force

On the field - with Barbarians,

Northampton and East Midlands

Teams, also to include Toulouse, France.

Edgar Mobbs Aged 32 in 1913, decided

To retire from sport, to follow in father's

Steps within motor industry - when

Mobbs considered emigration to

Canada in 1914, European war broke out.

The sports man volunteered - set to gain

A commission but was refused,

Reason being over the age limit -

Yet undeterred Edgar used his own

Influence for others to form a special corps.

Joining as a private alongside 'Mobbs

Army,’ this Sportsman's Battalion

Became part of the 7th Northants

D company - to include other rugby

Players with Captains' of Bedford and Devon.

With his big personality promotion would

Follow. Arrival in France led Mobbs

Into Battle of Loos - rapid rise led

Him to become Major Mobbs - April

1916 he took command of 7th Northants.

After promotion to Lt Colonel, Mobbs

Alongside his company, fought

In Battle of the Somme - during

Attack on Guillemont village,

Lt Colonel Mobbs took a shrapnel hit.

Following mentions in Despatches

Twice, Lt Colonel Mobbs was

Awarded the DSO. December

1916, the following year, took

The Northants to another sector.

April 1917 and the Battle of Arras saw

D company gain many casualties.

7 June, whilst fighting in Ypres

Salient, Lt Colonel Mobbs took

A further wound in action at Messines.

Under 20 days later Lt Colonel Mobbs

Was back with his battalion - over

18 months Private Mobbs reached

Lit-Colonel - coveted as great

Hero of sport with boyish personality.

Soldiering had given Mobbs renewal -

He declared, 'heaps better than

Rugger' - adding it has more

'Variety' - discipline and grind

Of training appealed as a challenge.

Edgar Mobbs took to soldiering

With ease, as those around

Him witnessed how he felt all

Loss of those in his company -

To say that he would be back again.

Despite wounds, his ability to recover

Did not keep Mobbs from front

For too long. On 29 July duty

Posted Mobbs near Zillebeke,

At the Canada Street tunnels HQ.

Involved in launch of the third battle

Of Ypres, Lt. Colonel Mobbs

Was at hand to the front where

He witnessed many of the walking

Wounded return, stating loss of officers.

To follow duty to lead his men Mobbs

Moved to Shrewsbury Forest -

31 July the attack began with

Lt Colonel Mobbs forwarding

The company, ignoring his own status.

As Battalion commander Mobbs

Should not have been there -

In the thick of it at Lower Star

Post, he discovered a section

Of the battalion cornered by enemy.

Requisitioning hand grenades Mobbs

Gained a volunteer runner - the plan

Revived the old game tricks back,

In a two pronged rugby flanking

Movement, was how to take out guns.

Despite another reminder Mobbs

Headed off - the runner was

Quick - he could feel that old

Surge, back on the field the ball

Under arm; a try was just forty yards.

Thirty-five yards behind him a dull

Yell; 'for gods sake get down sir!'

Almost 30 yards Mobbs saw

The Flash of sweeping bullets -

Ready to let the Hun take a catch.

A teammate suddenly saw Mobbs

Drop, believing he had thrown

A grenade he fell alongside

Lt Colonel to see his wound -

A bullet had gone through his neck.

They paused on the lip of a shell hole.

Mobbs gasped to halt attempt

To dress the hit - he scrawled 

The gun position, pushed the map

Into the runner's hand with firm orders.

Shakily the man read Mobbs message.

'Am seriously wounded' - despite

Protests to leave him, Mobbs gave 

Orders; return see to his wound

Only after the need of reinforcements.

Lying in mud Mobbs could not fight

A fitful sleep - with ten minutes

His men found Lt Colonel Mobbs

Had died alone - action demanded

That they could not convey his body.

The Sports man's battalion pressed

On with duty - their leaders body

Would never be recovered, lost

In the battle - they just fought even

Stronger, to avenge a good man's death.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1917. Private To Lieut-Colonel - Famous Footballer Killed. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 06 August 1917. P.6. Col.2. Available at: <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12214752/Daily-Telegraph-August-6-1917.html> [Accessed: 13 August 2017].

Source: File: England Rugby: Remembering Edgar Roberts Mobbs. Available at: <http://www.englandrugby.com/news/features/remembering-edgar-roberts-mobbs/> [Accessed 13 August 2017]

Source: Olney and District Historical Society:  Edgar R Mobbs DSO (1882-1917) - Legendary Soldier Sportsman. Available at: <http://www.mkheritage.org.uk/odhs/articles/edgar-roberts-mobbs-dso-1882-1917/> [Accessed 13 August 2017]

Mann, J., 2016. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 13 August 2017). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12214752/Daily-Telegraph-August-6-1917.html

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

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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/

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Poem ~ Yorkshires Seek Prisoner - Friday, 25 February - Saturday, 26 February 1916

Impression sketch for Yorkshires Seek Prisoner - by Jamie

As rumours go, based on truth,

Was story of Canadian troopers,

Taking up the hobby of dipping

Into trenches - making short

A shift of work returning home,

To convey a prisoner or two.

In liking for a type of such Red Indian

Warfare, there were also others; young

British officers who, being itchy all day

For the night to come, when time allowed

Night patrols in their moving out to wire.

Another rumour in the then

Trenches of Yorkshire lads,

Was their general's pleasure,

To bring a prisoner to him -

A proposal of a sortie was

Soon discussed in dug outs.

One non commissioned officer

In league with an eager sergeant,

Formulated their idea into a plan.

Completed by four lieutenants,

Who set to find their volunteers.

Included was one private

With a waggish humour

And roguish eyes - two
Parties after dark found
Yards equal to miles, with
The dead earth lit by flares.

At intervals of regularity came

A sudden whoosh, as rockets

Flared the dark - with sudden

Stark white lights, the parapets

And wire made stark silhouettes.

Beneath the harsh lit

White, crawling forms

Of Yorkshire men halted -

Pressing exposed selves

Downwards, into the spin

Of earth beneath them.

When darkness held them again,

They crawled on fingers - inch

By inch - following blindly the path

Of leading subalterns, towards

A gap of a curved enemy trench.

Between two bays that

Flashed in white relief,

The Yorkshires paused -

In the loop they listened

Intently, hearing a sentry

Stamping his cold feet.

The sentry paced back and forth,

For warmth he gave a quiet whistle.

His exhale patterning in harsh light

Of white flares where he thought

He was alone, unaware of English.

The Yorkshires lay close

To him, holding breathes,

Clasping revolvers - two

Lieutenants fingered way

To the parapet - behind

Men were left to instinct.

Any orders would alert the sentry;

One man led himself to clamber

Down into trench, only yards from

The sentry - as a wolf he tensed

For his prey, as footsteps came.

Moving in the dank sunk

Was a black form, marked

By glowing cigarette nub;

A German officer on rounds.

The man leapt away, his

Feet hung over the trench.

With legs lying in open air, head

Towards British lines - the officer's

Passing cloak, gently stroked his

Heels - the lad twisted in tension,

To see the German go on his way.

Close by, the lonely

Sentry made a  whistle,

A tune of home to try

And cheer his isolation,

When the alert of a click

Changed everything.

One lieutenant aimed his gun

But the mud filled its mechanism,

So it could not fire - the sentry

Spun, his whistle became a gasp -

Now he was blind with terror.

To fall from the parapet

Was a British sergeant -

Before him the boy sentry

Suddenly shrieked with

A yell - an English hand

About his German throat.

The fingers were trying to strangle

Him - he struggled when a second

Englishman an officer, was before

Him - to hold a cold barrel against his

Neck, to feel thump of a dud revolver.

The first officer sought

To knock him out, while

A trigger squeezed and

Blew away the sentry’s

Life - the same bullet also

Shot the sergeant's hand.

Now all alarm was raised - attempts

To gain any prisoner was lost, with

Thuds of German boots, hurrying 

To a lost rescue of their fellow sentry;

The raiding party scrambled away.

Over the slimy parapet

they fell into a watery ditch -

All attempts were to race

For their home trench -

Under the white flares

And heel snapping bullets.

The split of two parties had found

The other Yorkshire group troubled,

To find their way across a sodden

Ditch - they came against enemy

Wire, slowed down by making a gap.

In breaking through

The leaders split - the

Sergeant to the left

Lieutenants to right -

Their men close behind

To creep forwards.

In the target bay the sergeant soon

Discovered two German sentries,

Whose alert facial status prompted

Him to throw them a grenade -

The noisome result looked to work.

From a dugout two

Germans appeared

Into the smoky hole -

The sergeant sent

Another bomb, when

More soldiers came.

Making for a sharp exit - along

With him the party crouched,

As the enemy flung bombs

Towards them - only to realise

Their lieutenant was missing.

Turning back to find

Him, the sergeant saw

From out of the dark,

A shadow lift  - a flare

Burst revealed a white

Face, a result of wounds.

Despite a bayonet neck injury

And shrapnel hit, the Lieutenant

Lead the party back to safety -

Only one left of their number had

A delay; the grinning eyed man.

Lying in a ditch,

The Yorkshire man

Maintained calm -

Although caught

By the enemy wire,

Expectant of death.

Certain that his bombs had

Killed a number of the Hun,

He tried to get free of the trap.

His boots were caught - only by

Removing them he might get out.

Feeling that they

Were very good

Boots, he could

Not part with them -

Twisting once, then

Again he was free.

Both parties returned in safety,

Despite a lack of any prisoner

There were no regrets in giving

The Germans the jumps - which

Continued over consecutive nights.

Apparently seeing

Shadows, the Hun 
Habitually tossed
Bombs at their  

Own barbed wire; 

To humor the Yorks.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1916. Daring Yorkshires - 'No Man's Land' Exploit. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 25 February 1916. P.9. Col.2. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12169037/Daily-Telegraph-February-24-1916.html [Accessed: 25 February 2016].

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12169037/Daily-Telegraph-February-24-1916.html

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

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Poem ~ Jolly Trench Raiders - Friday, 4 February 1916

Impression sketch of trench raider with two pound hammer - by Jamie.

Within the humdrum tedium of trench

Existence - where nothing might

Seem to ever progress - a possible chance

For the soldier to actually get

Something done, was often welcomed.

Within the Kemmel-Wyteschaete area

A selection of British men, along

With their officers, were quickly pleased

As punch when being chosen

To form a dangerous, raiding party.

Deep in a wintery dark night with mist

Hanging around, an officer

Saw them embark, as chuffed as a bunch

Of dogs with tin tails, to raid

Trenches of Kemmel-Wyteschaete road.

The stillness was not exactly what

They thought ideal -

To prefer teeming rain and howling

Winds to keep their

Opponents, sheltering in the dugouts.

Still they moved out with a mission,

To include the surprise

Of elements, that could not be given -

Should the enemy learn

To know the impossible as possible.

150 yards of dirty charnel earth,

Lay between opposites -

Punctuated by hard entanglements

Of barbed wire, which

Had taken months of perfection.

Across and through this landscape,

The raiders had to make

Silent progression - for any detection

Was to result in annihilation -

How this achieved could not be told.ow this was done

Once done, they close in on a sentry

Suffering with seizures

Of coughing fits - with his choking’s

Nearly killing him, a quick

Bayonet from the dark ended him.

A picture of these men hovered

On the parapet, to look

Down into designer built trenches -

Peopled by shadowy men,

Who fell in a fray of rapid confusion.

First left then right, were described

Flashes of crimson death -

Amid the surprised yells, an officer

Emptied his revolver,

To grab a German rifle for a club.

As assailants made their attack,

Germans hurried out

From dugouts - some in blankets

Shocked from sleep -

While hand bombs blow out insides.

Rousing out those last unfortunates

With blasting bombs,

Some allied assailant types, showed

Innovation in chosen

Weapons - as a man with a hammer.

With these raiders taking down lives

With their hands,

The odd request for one two pound

Hammer was given -

The man later quizzed for his reasons.

The heavy tool, the man explained,

Was something he used

In daily business back at home - such

A heavy headed item he

Could put to use over anything else.

Then an arranged signal was raised

For attackers to withdraw -

After the brief affair, these soldiers

Precisely made their way

Back, as Germans manned their guns.

Only to find how the machine guns had

Been disabled - British

Losses came to three, as two soldiers

Helped one wounded

Man - all three to fall at the parapet.

That calm misty night boomed,

Prompted by the raid -

Snapping at heels an angry enemy

Sought revenge - flashes

Of rifles puckered down the line.

Deep darkness blurred with flares

As allied artillery woke,

To blast out shells over German

Lines, likely suffering

With shelling hitting their trenches.

As later noted in the officially made

Communication, was

How methods to win the war could

Only be achieved,

By striking out to kill every Boche.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1916. Daring Exploit of British Soldiers - Raid On A Trench. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 4 February 1916. P.6. Col.3. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12134547/Daily-Telegraph-February-4-1916.html [Accessed: 4 February 2016].

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12134547/Daily-Telegraph-February-4-1916.html

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

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Poem ~ A Story of Sidney Sipper, Aviator - Friday, 23 April 1915

Impression Sketch of aerial bombing technique - By Jamie Mann. An original images can be seen at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Russian-Scout-German-Torture-Panasuk/dp/B000S8DL5A

Impression Zahnradfabrik Friedrichshafen, G.m.b.H., 1915. (The Cog-wheel and Gear Works).  Friedrichshafen and Lake Constance in the background - By Jamie Mann. An original images can be seen at: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/32570/32570-h/32570-h.htm

The sister of Sydney Sippie, an aviator,

Wrote to tell her New Zealand friend,

Living in Wellington, about her brother's

Exploits, over the frontline of France.

Proudly speaking of young Sydney,

Who one bitterly cold morning, some

Weeks before - had set off on a flight

With avaitors Briggs and Babbington.

In temperatures under ten degrees

Below zero, the flight commanders

Took to the skies at ten in the morning.

Determinedly to head for enemy target.

On reaching Friedrichshafen, under

Enemy fire of eight machine guns,

Sydney could see nothing of Briggs;

The air filled with shrapnel bullets.

With the target spotted below, of gas

And other industrial sites, Sydney

Sippie dropped his flight to release

His bombs over enemy buildings.

Coming into view beside him, waved

Commander Babbington - yet still

No sign of Briggs - having dropped

His load, Sydney Sipper started bac.k

Commander Sipper's tactic was

To volplane down to a nearby lake,

To rise again, under cover of mists,

His intentions worked to fool enemy.

A German report stated he crashed

Into the lake - Sydney flew across

Mountains over 260 miles, to arrive

On the same spot, all in 3 hours 50.

Despite some slight written confusion

In the narrative, Commander Briggs

Was heard to have been captured,

Having been shot down in early stages.

The sister of Sydney Sipper was glad

It was not him - after a shock  to hear

One captured and one shot down, came

To receive relief in a wire from Sydney.

In carrying on accoun,t Sydney’s sister

Tells how both flyers were, the next day,

Decorated with the Legion of Honour -

Before the complete garrison at Belfort.

Little more than boys with Sydney 25

And Babbington, younger than him,

The band played and flags were flying

As the garrison marched with salutes.

After a whole days to celebrate, boys

Were then given an elaborate dinner -

In presence of staff officers, colonels

And generals being presented to them.

Their menus of the meal were signed

By them, with some well known names

Among them - The sister of Sydney

Concludes on a more sombre note.

Her brother had been at Antwerp during

The bombardment - amid the last to leave

They crossed the pontoon bridge, shielding

Their faces from the oil burning on water.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1915. A Daring Young Airman. The New Zealand Freelance, [online] 23 Apr. P.23. Col.1-2. Available at: http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=NZFL19150423.2.37&e=-------10--1----0--[Accessed: 23 April 2015].

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

http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=NZFL19150423.1.23&e=-------10--1----0--

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