Poem ~ Death Wire of Holland - Sunday, 08 October - Tuesday, 10 October 1916

Source: File: The Wire of Death. See an original image at: <http://www.dodendraad.org/index.php/wire-of-death> [Accessed 8 October 2016]

With dummy guards making up numbers,

Across the Dutch German border, more

Seriously the Dutch Belgian frontier was

Given another method; the 'Wire of Death.'

In August 1914, waves of Belgium refuges

Had begun to cross into Holland, to avoid

The occupation - joining family or seeking

To fight by taking that route to join allies.

After six months the German occupiers

Sought to prevent this, commencing by

Building a fence - not just any fence - that

From Aix-la-Chapelle over to Scheldt River.

German fears that among 30,000 fleeing

Could be smugglers, or worse spies taking

Vital information - wires built at 3 metres

High to stop them, carried 20,000 volts.

Therefore an electrified fence had

Ability to contain occupied population -

In addition were desertions of German

Soldiers, crossing over Holland’s border.

From the coast of Knokke was begun

This fence - the builders being Belgian

Labourers - German Military engineers

Led poorly provided 'volunteer' groups.

They wore ordinary shoes and civilians

Clothes - to note that by closure of first

Day half the volunteers had fled, to make

Escape across into Dutch countryside.

The construction involved more one wire;

A central wired fence carrying a charge;

On each side a non-electric wire. Laying

Out the route trees many were cut down.

East to west construction commenced

April 1915 raised in stages - by summer

Areas of Boekhoute, Maldegem, Neerpelt

And between Mindeerhout and Aredonk.

The start of electrification then began

24 July 1915 - though total completion

Continued until mid 1916 - without power

Stations sources of electrification varied.

Electric power to feed the wire came from

Local generators and factories; Zelzate

Lommel, Kaulille Merksem and Kapellen;

The fence was then guarded 24 hours.

The wire of death followed the wavering

Border, constructed on the Belgian side,

Leaving a No Mans Land between frontier

And border, often to include whole villages.

As other villages found the wire through

Their centre, as at Overslag - in addition

Huts and confiscated houses in intervals

For connecting and controlling power.

Border to border fences were impractical

So gates had to be constructed to allow

Passage; Militärdurchlässe had military

Purposes, with Zivildurchlässe for civilians.

Only with few exceptions were civil people

Allowed passage, for life and death reasons.

Meanwhile agents sought to bribe guards

While others took chances to get through.

Where a river interrupted the wire was made

A chance to swim - other elaborate ways set

To build scaffolding, from each side in wood

Ladders, or open the wire by wooden widows.

With the death wire in place the German

Occupiers of Belgium created divisions

Of families - while many made it across

Others lost their lives; shot or electrocuted.

by Jamie Mann.

Source: File: Twenty questions about the wire of death. Available at:  http://www.dodendraad.org/index.php/wire-of-death> [Accessed 8 October 2016]

Source: File: High Voltage Fence (The Netherlands and Belgium). Available at: <http://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/high_voltage_fence_the_netherlands_and_belgium> [Accessed 8 October 2016]

Source: File: A Deadly Fence. Available at: <http://www.greatwar.nl/frames/default-fence.html> [Accessed 8 October 2016]

Mann, J., 2016. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 8 October 2016). 

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

#WW1 #WW1centenary #GreatWar #WW1poem #GreatWar #WW1centenary #worldwarone #worldwaroneremembered #WW1Holland

Poem ~ Medics Under Fire - Friday, 06 October - Saturday, 07 October 1916

Source: File: Stretcher-bearers moving up to the forward area; near Ginchy;14 September 1916. Tank tracks can be seen running alongside them in the mud. See an original image at: <https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stretcher-bearers_attached_to_a_Guards_battalion_moving_forward_near_Ginchy_on_the_Somme,_14_September_1916._Q1214.jpg> [Accessed 6 October 2016]

An influential pioneer of newspaper trade

Alfred Harmsworth, had been born into world

Of the gentry, with brothers of viscounts

And barons to gain his own title - 1st Viscount

Northcliffe - to become a freelance journalist.

Building on the purchase of periodicals,

Harmsworth went on to take failing papers

And build them into successful chains -

From the Evening News the viscount went

Onto create the Daily Mail and Daily Mirror.

A tabloid pioneer that linked in compulsory

Education - another Harmsworth paper,

The Times, had made reports over the 1915

Shell crisis, that in turn had led to changes

In government regarding the lack of shells.

By reaction Prime minster Asquith was forced

To form a coalition government - by creation

The ministry of munitions, whose minister

Was to be David Lloyd George - Harmsworth

Still a journalist made reports about the war.

A piece appeared within his newspaper,

The Daily Mail, relating to the War Doctors.

Lord Northcliffe had embarked on a Somme

Tour of the war front - reaching the frontline

On a Sunday, under a heavy atmosphere.

As if a permanent thunderstorm, continual

Clouds of dusty smoke hung all around.

In his objective of visiting an Advanced

Dressing station were endless interruptions,

Having to lay flat to avoid close shell bursts.

The practise occurred every few seconds,

To become quickly tedious, without any

Sign of the dressing station close by -

Suddenly two stretcher-bearers emerged

Out of nowhere through a haze, to vanish.

As quickly as they came they went down

Underground, as Alice did into a rabbit

Burrow - an inspector of the medical posts,

Lord Northcliffe's guide, pointed after them;

Down they went, to follow into wonderland.

Behind the men they dropped into a trench,

From foggy light into pitch darkness lit only

By candles - yet no quiet place, as an acting

Battery had let loose above; dominating

Any act of easy exchange or questioning.

From the flickering light, a grimy grim image

Emerged. They were stood in a passageway.

Part of a maze dug out of clay earth, little

More than the width of stretcher handles -

Under the dull light men lay on the ground.

Lined out on stretchers blocking the passage,

The men were silent under noisome blasts.

Making it difficult to attempt to talk many just

Stared into space, some smiled others slept;

They stepped over the stretchered wounded.

Many were out of it on morhpia - their torch light

Beam passed over varied shadowy faces  -by

Half stumbles they reached the main dressing

Area - above them rumbles numbed by density

Of solid ground, ignored by those in their burrow.

In a small chamber they found young doctors -

A few R.A.M.C subalterns taking tender care,

Washing and dressing of some twenty-four

Soldiers - by stealth the visitors moved onward;

In another chamber lay nine wounded men.

In one small room an operation was underway -

A tracheotomy was performed to relieve one

Mans ability to breathe - carried out in calm

Beneath five foot of earth, endless shudders

Above bowed heads, ignored by doctors work.

Further down in the dug tunnels were other

Rooms; a corrugated walled store room, an

Office, kitchen along with a mess room home

To seventy staff - all impressed Lord Northcliffe

Providing a reminder of extremes of war work.

Above them the barrage increased again -

The visitors would have to remain a while

Longer, sitting among the wounded men who

Laid helpless on the ground - he noted among

Some having tremors of shell shock symptoms.

Around them hands and expressions played

In time  - with each echoing dull thud, such gun

Effects held equal prejudice for every soldier -

The realization came to Northcliffe, how these

Caring humans had ability to go without sleep.

Amazed by their dedications to treat extreme

Effects of war on bodies - Northcliffe and guide

Waited for storms abate, talking over how many

Of the wounded initially dressed own wounds,

Using basic field dressings sewn into tunics.

Of course, it was only those soldiers who were

Able - while others waited, reliant on regimental

Stretcher-bearers or reaching aid posts like the

One where they sat - little wonder he thought,

Some broke down and not just women nurses.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1916. The War Doctors  - Their Life Under Fire. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 4 October 1916. P.7. Col.2. Available at: <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12213368/Daily-Telegraph-October-5-1916.html> [Accessed: 5 October 2016].

Mann, J., 2016. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 5 October 2016). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12213368/Daily-Telegraph-October-5-1916.html

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

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

Poem ~ Mannequin Sentries - Thursday, 05 October 1916

Impression sketch for Mannequin Sentries.

In the northwest corner of Europe,

Holland maintained neutrality -

Having no direct connections

To origins of feudal disputes,

That had launched war in 1914.

Yet borders of Holland edged           

Against the victims of Belgium

To the south and protagonist

Of Germany to the east - though

Outsiders, Dutch were affected.

While relations were not close

To the invaded Belgium state,

Holland remained on alert for

Fear of a German invasion from

South - to have conscripts ready.

Evidence was reported to state

How Germany lacked border

Guards, Philippine and Bouchaute

Observers noted how a single

Cavalry soldier maintained watch.

In order to control any smugglers

Or deserters from their army,

A method of dummy sentinels

Were used at night, at fifty metre

Intervals in area close to Neuzen.

Meanwhile real guards patrolled

Each thousand metres, whereas

This use to be hundred metres -

when dawn emerged the dummies

Disappeared for the daylight hours.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1916. Dummy Sentinels - Latest German Trick. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 4 October 1916. P.9. Col.5. Available at: <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12213367/Daily-Telegraph-October-4-1916.html> [Accessed: 5 October 2016].

Mann, J., 2016. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 5 October 2016). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12213367/Daily-Telegraph-October-4-1916.html

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

#WW1 #WW1centenary #GreatWar #WW1poem #GreatWar #WW1centenary #worldwarone #worldwaroneremembered #WW1Holland

Poem ~ Fight for Red Tower Pass - Wednesday, 04 October 1916

Source: File: Red Tower at the entrance of the Pass. See an original image at: <http://www.kaiserscross.com/69501/495801.html> [Accessed 4 October 2016]

From the Balkan area, Romanian campaign

Targeted the union of central powers, alongside

Russian forces on side of the triple entent -

Partly by force, partly in having set eyes upon

Provinces of Transylvania and Bukowina.

Hours prior to Italy's declaration, Roumania

Made her intent open on Austria-Hungary -

Embarking on a high rocky frontline, far

Different to the western front - to initially

Encounter little resistance at Siebenbürgen.

Colonel General Arz von Straussenburg

Of Austro-Hungary army was reassigned

To the Roumania campaign, to set about

Building defences of a line of border guards;

Known as Grenzschutz and Landsturm forces.

Reinforcements came in form of Alpenkorps,

Specialized in mountain fighting - yet transport

In the area played against them, from lack

Of mules - a human version arrived in shape

Of General Von Falkenhayn, sent from Verdun.

Falkenhayn, 'Blood Miller' of Verdun, sought

To prove his strategies and set out to attack

Romanians - with him orders were not sufficient

To beat but rather destroy this enemy - but this

Would not prove so easy on mountain ranges.

Alpen Korps were to climb to the Cibin Mountain

Where their target was the Roten Turm Pass -

News passed in October's start, via Switzerland

And Vienna, of events between Carpathian

Mountains - to be known as the Red Tower Pass.

Historically the route had always held strategic

Values, having once involved Ottoman armies

And Hungarian revolution - here the river Olt

Flowed as a Romanian river - Monday 2 October

News told of Austro-Hungarian and German forces.

Belief of four or five German divisions bulked

Up the presence - possibly 15,000 soldiers

Combined from other fronts - resistance held

By Roumanians south of Transylvania commune,

Hermannstadt, where their forces remained.

Hermannstadt lying on a tributary of the river Olt,

Where the Cibin heights experienced destruction

Before, during an invasion of Mongols way back

In the Middle Ages - then a village, had grown

Into a fortified walled city, to resist any invasion.

By 1916 in the midst of a wider war, the city

Hermannstadt had already seen the Austrians

Evacuation, to be opened up for Roumanians;

Yet no invading force entered, as they held

Surrounding higher ground in their strategy.

While Hermannstadt stood open, apparently

Willing to hand over to Roumanians, their

Enemy gathered further forces from Maros

Valley - this then could have been a trap,

From which the Roumanains failed to take.

Numbers from the Maros valley through

The veins of Hatzeger Mountains, sought

To entrap Roumanians about the rear - from

Sources of Austrian press, told of a fierce

Battle that had begun 27 September 1916.

The fight had opened in the morning along

The Hatzegers northern ridge - between

Hermannstadt and Petroseny and centering

On Tulisini mountain, where at 2000 metres

The Roumanians gave heroic resistance.

While no final outcome had yet been made,

The Roumanian army had set out diversions

About Schnellenberg, Szekely and Udvarhely

Areas in defence of Tulisini's high ground; the

Army dug in with new positions and held on.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1916. Desperate Battle. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 3 October 1916. P.7. Col.36. Available at: <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12213366/Daily-Telegraph-October-3-1916.html> [Accessed: 4 October 2016].

Source: File: The Soldier's Burden - Red Tower Pass. Available at: <http://www.kaiserscross.com/69501/495801.html> [Accessed 4 October 2016]

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

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12213366/Daily-Telegraph-October-3-1916.html

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

#WW1 #WW1centenary #GreatWar #WW1poem #GreatWar #WW1centenary #worldwarone #worldwaroneremembered #WW1Romania

Poem ~ Lupta pentru Red Tower Pass - Miercuri 4 Octombrie 1916

Sursa: Fișier: Turnul Roșu la intrarea Pass. A se vedea o imagine originală la: <http://www.kaiserscross.com/69501/495801.html> [Accesat 04 Octombrie 2016]

Din zona balcanică, campania românească

Targeted uniunea puterilor centrale, alături de

Forțele rusești pe partea de triplu entent -

Parțial prin forță, parțial, în care au aruncat ochii asupra

Provinciile din Transilvania și Bucovina.

Ore înainte de declarația Italiei, României

A făcut intenția sa deschisă Austro-Ungaria -

Îmbarcă pe un front, stâncos înalt, departe

Diferită de frontul de vest - la început

Întâlni o mică rezistență la Siebenbürgen.

Generalul colonel Arz von Straussenburg

Austro-Ungaria, armata a fost redistribuit

La campania României, pentru a stabili despre

Construirea de apărare a unei linii de polițiști de frontieră;

Cunoscut sub numele de forțe Grenzschutz și Landsturm.

Întăririle a venit în formă de Alpenkorps,

Specializat in lupte de munte - încă de transport

În zona de jucat împotriva lor, din cauza lipsei

Catârilor - o versiune umană a ajuns în formă

A generalului von Falkenhayn, trimis de la Verdun.

Falkenheyn, "Blood Miller" de la Verdun, a căutat

Pentru a dovedi strategiile sale și să stabilească un atac

Românii - cu el comenzi nu au fost suficiente pentru

A bate, ci mai degrabă distruge acest inamic - dar acest lucru

Nu s-ar dovedi atât de ușor pe lanțuri muntoase.

Alpen Korps au fost de a urca la muntele Cibinului

În cazul în care ținta lor a fost Roten Turm Pass -

Știrile au trecut in start lui octombrie, prin Elveția

Și Viena, de evenimente între Carpatica

Munții - să fie cunoscut sub numele de Red Tower Pass.

Punct de vedere istoric traseul a deținut întotdeauna

Strategic valorile, după ce a implicat o dată armate

Otomane și revoluția ungară - aici râul Olt

Curgeau ca un râu românesc - Luni 02 octombrie

Știrile spus forțelor austro-ungare și germane.

Credință a patru sau cinci divizii germane comasează

Up prezența - eventual 15.000 de soldați

Combinate din alte fronturi - rezistență deținute

Până la sud, din comuna românilor Transilvania,

Hermannstadt, în cazul în care forțele lor au rămas.

Hermannstadt situată pe un afluent al râului Olt,

În cazul în care înălțimile Cibinului cu experiență distrugere

Înainte, în timpul unei invazii a mongolilor cale de întoarcere

În Evul Mediu - apoi un sat, a crescut

Într-un oraș fortificat cu pereți, pentru a rezista la orice invazie.

În 1916, în mijlocul unui război mai larg, orașul

Hermannstadt au văzut deja austriecii Evacuarea,

Care urmează să fie deschis pentru românii; cu toate

Acestea, nici o forță invadator a intrat, așa cum au avut loc

Înconjurătoare la sol mai mare în strategia lor.

În timp ce Hermannstadt era deschisă, aparent

Dispus să predea românilor, lor

Inamic s-au adunat forțe suplimentare de la Maros

Valley - acest lucru, atunci ar fi fost o capcană,

Din care Roumanains nu a luat.

Numerele din vale Maros prin Venele Munților

Hatzeger, a căutatPentru a prinde în capcană

despre partea din spate românilor - din

Surse din presa austriacă, a declarat unui feroce

Luptă care a început 27 septembrie 1916.

Lupta a deschis în dimineața de-a lungul

Creasta nordică Hatzegers - între Hermannstadt

Și Petroseny și de centrare Pe Tulisini de munte,

În cazul în care, la 2000 de metri

Românii au dat rezistență eroică.

În timp ce nici un rezultat final au fost încă făcute,

Armatei române au stabilit în diversiuni

Despre Schnellenberg, Szekely și Udvarhely

Zone de apărare a mare la sol Tulisini lui;

Armata săpate în poziții cu noi și a avut loc la.

de Jamie Mann.

Anon., 1916. Battle disperați. The Daily Telegraph, [on-line] 03 octombrie 1916. P.7. Col.36. Disponibil la adresa: <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12213366/Daily-Telegraph-October-3-1916.html> [Accesat: 04 octombrie 2016].

Sursa: Fișier: ostașului Sarcina - Red Tower Pass. Disponibil la adresa: <http://www.kaiserscross.com/69501/495801.html> [Accesat 04 octombrie 2016]

Mann, J., 2016. acum 100 de ani - Poezii de Jamie Mann. [Scrisoare] (comunicare personală din 4 octombrie 2016).

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12213366/Daily-Telegraph-October-3-1916.html

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

# WW1 # WW1centenary #GreatWar # WW1poem #GreatWar # WW1centenary #worldwarone #worldwaroneremembered # WW1Romania

Poem ~ Poster Protest of War - Monday, 02 October - Tuesday, 03 October 1916

Source: File: No Conscription Fellowship National Committee meeting May 1916. (Front row left to right: C.H. Norman, Dr Alfred Salter, Aylmer Rose, Fenner Brockway, Clifford Allen, Edward Grubb, Will Chamberlain, Catherine Marshall. Standing left to right: Rev. Leyton Richards, Morgan Jones, John P. Fletcher, A Barratt Brown, and Bertrand Russell.) See an original image at: <http://www.ppu.org.uk/cosnew/cos08.html> [Accessed 2 October 2016]

When nations had emerged in their actions

Of war, opposition formed soon after, as in

The organisation of the No Conscription

Fellowship - initiated from autumn 1914

Fenner Brockway, editor of an anti-war

Paper, appealed to any man against conflict.

With the No Conscription Fellowship quickly

Gaining 300 members, the organisation's

Statement of Faith followed - these men

Refused to bear arms in beliefs of human

Life as sacred; they could not inflict death.

Till then army recruits had been voluntary.

Soon though, facts emerged that in order

To maintain high numbers for the army,

Conscription would be introduced -

The No Conscription Fellowship had

Grown stronger with members ironically

Prepared to fight for their passive beliefs.

A type of male suffrage movement in rights

To refuse to fight, with countrywide branches

Formed to campaign against compulsory

Military Service Bill - conscientious objectors

Set out to equally make refusal to take part

In any war work, or involvement of military.

In their stand members appeared at tribunals

And court martial's - all of which were carefully

Recorded - No Conscription Fellowship press

Department set to publicise frequently often

Brutal treatment of their members, their arrests  

And forceful detainment in prison and camps.

No let up was given by members' missions -

As on last day of September - Saturday

30 1916 when an appearance was made by

Journalist Edward Fuller, called to Stratford

Police court - the offence charged against

Him made under Defence of the Realm Act.

Actions taken by Edward Fuller were stated

As likely to prejudice the forces recruitment

Administration and military discipline -

Acting on Fuller's defence was Mr Hawkin,

With Mr Bodkin for Director of Public

Prosecutions, centring on use of posters.

28 August 1916 had seen arrival of a letter

To Mr Abrahams, proprietor of Borough

Theatre Bill Posting Company - a request

Asked costs in posting Double Crown Bills,

To be posted in busy districts of Stratford,

Woodford, Forest Gate and Wanstead.

With the letter was a copy of the poster,

Which set to publicize a quote from a trial,

That made prosecutions of eight members

Of the No Conscription Fellowship - words

Spoken by A. H. Bodkin K.C.  having acted 

In role of public prosecutor, 17 May 1916.

'War will become impossible, if all men

Were to have the view that war is wrong.'

Was stated by Mr Bodkin, an eminent lawyer

Of the Kings Council - repeating his stand

At bringing Edward Fuller to trial, whose 

Intent was to post these misquoted words.

The suggestion of this statement by Bodkin

Was to take them out of context, to publicise

This as a public prosecutors view of the war -

Mr Abrahams replied to Mr Fuller with costs,

To also ask if they had war office sanctioned

The posters to show them in public situations.

For the defence, Mr Hawkins interactions

With Mr Abrahams was for a straightforward

Business transaction - a 'molehill had then

Been turned into a mountain,' - yet an input

From Brigadier General Childs, voiced how

Conscientious objectors wasted army time.

1,700 COs had so far been court-martialled -

Mr Hawkins gave the court a reminder how

Movement's intent was to cause the war

Office problems - that showing those words

Could do no real harm; Mr Fuller had not set

Out to disrupt recruitment, it was technical.

'War will become impossible, if all men

Were to have the view that war is wrong,'

Suggested that if everyone held that belief

Of war being unlawful, no war could take

Place; the Bench concluded Fuller was just

A dupe and not to be automatically detained.

Given choice of 121 fine and costs, Edward 

Fuller had the alternative of 90 days in goal.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1916. Prejudicing Recruiting - Objector Fine £100. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 2 October 1916. P.5. Col.3. Available at: <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12213365/Daily-Telegraph-October-2-1916.html> [Accessed: 2 October 2016].

Source: File: Conscientious Objection: No-Conscription Fellowship. Available at: <http://www.ppu.org.uk/cosnew/cos04a.html> [Accessed 2 October 2016]

Mann, J., 2016. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 2 October 2016). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12213365/Daily-Telegraph-October-2-1916.html

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

#WW1 #WW1centenary #GreatWar #WW1poem #GreatWar #WW1centenary #worldwarone #worldwaroneremembered #WW1conscientiousobjectors