Poem ~ British Brodie Versus French Adrian - Thursday, 23 March 1916

Impression sketch of Brodie versus Adrian - by Jamie. Original images can be seen at:  <http://thebrodiehelmet.weebly.com/war-office-pattern.html> <https://www.worldwarsupply.com/cart/French-Adrian-Helmet> [Accessed: 23 March 2016]

Learning by experience of wearers

From the French casque, designers

Of the British Brodie then perfected

Their final design to be distributed.

Taking over from the War Office,

Ministry of Munitions made articles -

Final idea combining various designs,

Within weeks from different origins.

By compacted time a scientific evolution

Was described, in design of effective

Headpieces formed from hardest steel,

To have circumference of a narrow lip.

A fault detected from the French casque

Was the higher dome, allowing cool air

To collect at the top - the fit being tighter

So the metal pressed on wearer’s head.

Therefore the Brodie was constructed

With a lower pitch than French, made

To make a lower target - smooth steel

Without projections or any weak flutings.

Made at Armaments House, developed

A comfortable fit - rubber studs in dome

Absorbed any shock, with a double lining

Of felt and wadding against wearers head.

The wadding would act to absorb blood

With some antiseptic, should a bullet

Cut through metal to cause scalp wound -

While a chinstrap held helmet to the head.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1916. The British Helmet. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 23 March 1916. P.9. Col.6. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12200314/Daily-Telegraph-March-23-1916.html [Accessed: 23 March 2016].

Mann, J., 2016. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 23 March 2016). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12200314/Daily-Telegraph-March-23-1916.html

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

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Poem ~ Lady Machine Gunner - Tuesday, 25 January 1916

Source: File: Burroughs Adding Machine Advert - Machine-Guns In The Office.jpg. [online] see an original image P3 col 6-7 at: <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12111105/Daily-Telegraph-January-25-1916.html> Accessed: 23 January 2016].

A curious conjecture came by way

Of a young lady seated at a desk,

Where quill and ink sits next

To scattered papers - the lady shelters

Besides piled ledgers.

The shock of a suggestion is how

The young lady calmly operates

An 'office-type' machine gun -

Down the barrel she aims, as smoke

Emits metaphorical bullets.

The lesson begins by stating,

How that many men armed

With rifles are equaled by

One man operating a machine gun;

So few men can hold trenches.

While not exactly aiming at a boss,

The lady illustrates how use

Of innovations, may overcome

Shortages in the workforce - equal

To a skeleton armies strength.

Clerks are office infantrymen,

While the 'machine gun'

They handle, is a Burroughs

Adding Machine - lady, boy or man

Can do the work of three.

The advantages of technology,

Is how a machine can never

Be off colour from a heavy

Night - the adding machine can carry

On all day, without any flicker.

Versatility is a proclamation,

To say it is a cost keeper,

Statician, bookkeeper -

To be a complete mechanical

Accountant in any office.

The great ability of the wonder

Machine is as record maker,

Adding multiple columns

In various denominations, in ability

To analyse, tabulate and index.

Promises continue, as it records

Abstract and make sub totals -

Giving quantities and amounts,

Excluded from the total, if so wished -

To print out many carbon copies.

With the hard sell is the lady

That rattles out bullets

Efficiently - just 30 minutes

Is the claim to illustrate Burroughs

Machine to any office employer.

Comes an invite right away,

To send that same day,

A booklet of information,

That can bridge the gaps in low staff,

And turn one clerk into three.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1916. Advert- Machine Guns In The Office. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 25 January 1916. P.3. Col.6-7. Available at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12111105/Daily-Telegraph-January-25-1916.html [Accessed: 25 January 2016].

Mann, J., 2016. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 25 January 2016). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12111105/Daily-Telegraph-January-25-1916.html

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

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Poem ~ The Brodie Protector - Monday, 1 November 1915

Source: File: officers wearing new Brodie helmets. jpeg, [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ilwarnews_brodie.jpg> Accessed: 1 November 2015].

Illustrated War News Nov 1915. Original image from "Illustrated War News" - Nov 17 1915 The Text reads : Head-wounds have been more than usually numerous during the war, owing to the trench-fighting, and more than usually severe, owing to the extensive use of shrapnel. But the danger, although it cannot be avoided, can be minimised. Our Army has now followed the French by adopting steel helmets, calculated to stop shell-splinters and shrapnel. Even in cases of extreme risk, not only has death been avoided, but injuries have been confined to bruises or superficial wounds. Cases have occurred in which the wearers have been hit, but saved by these helmets from what without them would have meant certain death. The fur coats, as they did last year, mean mitigation of the rigours of winter. The French helmets are known as "Adrians," after their inventor.

Following trend of French innovation,

Came a new British army fashion -

With certain numbers of soldiers,

Being supplied light steel helmets.

In showing some were more important

Than others - the bomber less ordinary;

Yet ranked under the men of infantry,

In importance of military standpoints.

The new Tommy steel helmet given

To a chosen few - for their protection

Against hits of shrapnel and splinter

Fragments; helmets would save lives.

Initially just for the bombers who take

Special training courses - their value

Being high, in techniques of modern

War, were chosen to test innovation.

The soldierly fashion was described

As comfortable to wear - being lined

By leather, along with a chin strap,

But were still to gain wider approval.

In ignorance of high velocity firearms

War, all sides had gone for a nearly

A year without - in shadows of historical

Conflicts, ignorant of health and safety.

Difficult lessons were slowly learned

At cost of soldiers lives - by wounds

From gun fire, in unknown scales,
vicious injuries inflicted on men's heads.

The German military wore the spiked

'Pickelhaube' constructed from leather -

Decoratively topped by a brass spike -

Meanwhile the French had the Adrian.

The French helmet matched their uniforms,

In style of a fireman - two shells riveted

Together, strengthened by a protector,

Dorsal ridge - set off by a moulded badge.

All armies realised need of good head

Protection – British ideas had formed

In the mind of John Brodie. an engineer –
Not original, made an effective innovation.

The origins had been a medieval Kettle

Helmet design - the strength lay in being

Created from a single sheet of metal -

In its basic form, a bowl with a wide brim.

The Brodie helmet had the advantage

In being made from a single piece

Of stamped steel production - type A

Superseded by type B’s refined design.

In an improved manganese steel form

Impact strength was vastly improved -

So John Brodie built first battle helmet,

Forming an image of the iconic Tommy.

Barely off the drawing board, the helmet

Had not been universally approved amid

British senior officers - mainly because

They had not taken part in developments.

Criticism was theirs to say un-soldierly

And somehow 'soft' - type A saw actions

In battle of Loos - if successful the Brodie

Would be set for increased production.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1915. Helmets for the Troops - Protection for Bombers. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 1 November. P.10. Col.4. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11963590/Daily-Telegraph-November-1-1915.html [Accessed: 1 November 2015].

Source: File: WW1: Combat helmet technology - the Brodie steel helmet

16 June 2014 By Dan Shadrake. [online Available at: <http://eandt.theiet.org/magazine/2014/06/putting-a-lid-on-it.cfm> Accessed 1 November 2015

Mann, J., 2015. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 1 November 2015). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11963590/Daily-Telegraph-November-1-1915.html

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

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Poem ~ Waistcoat Life Saver - Wednesday, 1 September 1915

 Impression sketch of 'Gieve Life Saving Waistcoat' - by Jamie. Taken from  original at: http://www.google.com/patents/US1143899

Innovations being stuff of war,

Came along with situations -

As in the gas attacks of Germans,

Prompting the devising

Of masks for the soldier, caught

In gas drifts.

There were also the risks

Of travelling by waters across

Seas, where vessels encounter

Enemy submarines -

Safety advertisements began

In 1914.

In the form of an article,

Was a column advertisement -

The heading 'His Vessel Torpedoed.'

Depicted a man, a Trinity

House Pilot, a witness to how

Pilots invested in safety.

The term being fairly

New to become regularly

Used - as a precursor to life jacket,

Or lifebelt came the 'Gieve

Life Saving Waistcoat;'

With sea users quotes.

As one pilot who had been

Taken from the water - being

On the verge of unconsciousness,

Having suffered a scalp

Wound - his life saved, 'having

One of your waistcoats.'

Another example to be quoted

From the Dardanelles, told how

A man had been unconscious in water

For some hours - solely

Saved by a 'Gieve Life Saving

Waistcoat.'

Claims made of witnesses,

Could be multiplied - to quote

Recent disasters; as in Lusitania,

Goliath, Formidable,

And others - where the Gieve

Saved lives.

Lives that would have been

Lost - the aim of the garment

Being for professional sailors; worn

Under military and naval

Garments - to be inflated within

Twenty seconds.

Even more is claim that

The wearer, and two others -

While ideally being inflated before

Hitting the surface - can

All be kept head and shoulders

Above water, indefinitely.

With Patent filed June 22,

1915, by James Watson Grieve -

His invention, to be a life saving serge

Waistcoat, for an ordinary

Seaman - a portion of which can

Be inflated.

In detail, the application

Stated how some extra material

Covered a rubber tube - when inflated

into a hoop shaped bladder,

Designed to support wearer, to hold
Body and head in backwards position.

The tube's mouthpiece having

A valve, allowed wearer to blow

Easily at any given moment - when not

Used this tube laid flat under

Extra material of pocket - held there

By hook and fasteners.

Furthermore, to ensure tipped

Back position in water, the larger

Position extended about wearers chest -

Signed James Watson Grieve -

Being a subject of the King

Of Great Britain.

So the advertisement concluded

That with officers and navy men out

At sea - along with transportation of troops

Overseas - gave caution to wear

Such a waistcoat 24 hours a day,

Was emphasized.

Orders being tailored to fit -

Dependent on chest and girth

Sizes - to be bought for a hefty sum

Of 50/- - the purchaser being

Invited to visit the home

Of Grieve's in London.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1915. Advert 'Gieve Life-saving Waistcoat.' The Daily Telegraph, [online] 1 September. P.3. Col.7. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11815087/Daily-Telegraph-September-1-1915.html [Accessed: 1 September 2015].

Source: File: Life-savers: Language and self-protection in early WWI [online] Available at: <http://www.torch.ox.ac.uk/life-savers-language-and-self-protection-early-wwi> [Accessed: 1 September 2015]

Source: File: Life-saving waistcoat. [online] Available at: <http://www.google.com/patents/US1143899> [Accessed: 1 September 2015]

Mann, J., 2015. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 1 September 2015). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11815087/Daily-Telegraph-September-1-1915.html

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

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Poem ~ Advance in Wound Treatment - Tuesday, 16 February 1915

Source: File: Sir William Watson Cheyne.jpg, 2015. From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository. [online] Available at:<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watson_Cheyne> [Accessed: 15 February 2015].

At The Royal College of Surgeons,

On Monday February the fifteenth, was

Held a 'Hunterian' talk - which meant,

By use of observations and methods

Employed in science, for advancement

In the development of treatments.

A lecture given by Sir Watson Cheyne,

Described his ongoing experiments,

For the disinfection of wounds, made

By gunshots - at the initial stages, prior

To being treated at a base hospital.

Lantern slides of microscopic images

Were used by the surgeon, in a show

Of bacilli colonies on waxy substances.

These represented suppurating sores,

Which were subjected to antiseptics.

They had made a discovery to prove

Effective use of creosol and carbolic

Acid - one surprise for Sir Cheyne

Was a corrosive sublimate i.e. mercury -

That completely dispelled the bacilli.

A committee of three then formed,

With himself, the Royal Naval colleges'

Arthur Edmunds and the fleet surgeon

Basset Smith - to take on experiments,

To effectively resolve shot wounds,

At earliest possible point at the front.

This applied antiseptic would remain

Diffusing within the tissue's blood,

To inhibit the bacteria’s growth - then

Temporarily putting bacilli out of action,

Until the point when a victim's wound

Would receive full medical treatment.

Sir Cheyne stated their trials showed

How these dangerous delays, when

Transporting wounded from frontlines

To base hospital, would be removed;

An issue that had to be solved at the front.

Sir Cheyne added an idea, that if he were

An author of sixpenny novels, he would

Devise shells for gunners that contained

Anesthetics - these being heavier than

Air, would drift across the ground - For

An unconscious enemy to awake to find

Themselves taken, as prisoners of war.

One sad fact about a war is the proviso

Of plenty of injured, maimed subjects,

On which to test out theories - where

In time of peace would be frowned on -

The sufferings of many young bodies,

Therefore provides allowance for surgeons

To take liberties, without fear of reprisals.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1915. Gunshot Wounds in War - Hopeful Experiments. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 16 Feb. P.4. Col.5. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11411729/Daily-Telegraph-February-16-1915.html [Accessed: 16 February 2015].

Mann, J., 2015. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 16 February 2015). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11411729/Daily-Telegraph-February-16-1915.html

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

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Poem ~ Women Inventors On the Rise - Tuesday, 29 December 1914

With war, many occupations

Have been affected, where

Many men had led the way.

By a review of 1914, was seen

An increase in applications,

Taken out by women, to patent

Their own new innovations.

Patent agents of Messrs

Hughes and Young -

Of Chancery Lane, London -

Reported 350 applications

By women gaining patents.

These innovators – made up ten

More than the record for 1913,

Across the United Kingdom.

Being seen as remarkable,

Against the fact of a decrease

From equivalent male

Applications - with a loss

In the region of 5000 patent

Requests - all due to the war,

Taking the male innovators.

Innovative ideas by women,

Were likely to prove useful

To both the Navy and Army,

To include sleeping blankets,

Life belts - of an inflatable kind -

An arm sling and a defensive

Idea, in the utilisation of nets.

Requests for patents women

Have made, included numbers

Of twenty for household ideas,

Nursing - as medical number to

Thirty-four, while fifty-four

Centre about ideas of dress.

Randomly is also an appliance,

To preserve form of the chin...

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1914. Women’s Inventions. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 29 Dec. p.12. Col.2. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11310995/Daily-Telegraph-December-29-1914.html [Accessed: 29 December August 2014].

Mann, J., 2014. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 29 December 2014). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11310995/Daily-Telegraph-December-29-1914.html

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

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