Hermann Plagge (1888 – 1918) – German writer and poet

With thanks to AC Benus for finding this poet for us

Hermann Plagge was born on 11th June 1888, in Weener/Ostfriesland, Germany. He was the fourth child of farmer and cattle dealer Otto Plagge and his wife Margaretha Henderika. Hermann had nine siblings and was the only child in his family to attend university

Educated initially at a primary school in his birthplace, Herman went on to study at the Royal Gymnasium in Leer. He passed his Abitur (university entrance examination) there at Easter. From the summer semester of 1908 to the winter semester of 1908/09, he studied Modern Philology in Munich.  From 1st May 1909 to 6th March 1913, he continued his studies at the Royal Friedrich Wilhelm University of Berlin.   In the spring of 1913, he left the university without graduating, receiving a leaving certificate.

At the outbreak of the First World War, Hermann immediately joined the German army and fought mostly on the front lines. 

Unlike most of his fellow poets, Hermann did not rejoice at the outbreak of war. He immediately recorded his experiences as a soldier with remarkable detachment, documenting his observations with sober objectivity. The pathos typical of the time remained foreign to him. He avoided absurd exaggerations, did not adhere to traditions, and wrote without rhyme and with remarkable freedom. He developed his own style and moved within the early transition from Expressionism to New Objectivity.

Hermann survived the war but drowned while swimming in Mainz on 16th September 1918.

Source:  Wikipedia

Bertram John William Andrews (1895 – 1917) – British poet

Bertram Andrews was born in 1895 in Plumstead, Kent, UK. His parents were William Andrews, a torpedo maker and his wife Clara, nee Lampitt.  Bertram was educated at Bancrofts School in Woodford Green, London between 1906 and 1913. He loved writing and was a regular contributor of reviews and poems to the school’s newspaper. 

When war broke out in 1914 Bertram joined the 16th Battalion (Public Schools) Middlesex Regiment as a Private soldier. The Battalion was raised on 1st September 1914 and was sent to France on 17th November 1915. Bertram saw service in the line the following Winter and Spring but by the Summer he was withdrawn from the Front for officer training in Ayr.  During his time in Ayr he fell in love with a local girl, Annie Knox. He received his commission on 4th August 1916 and was appointed Second Lieutenant in the Royal Sussex Regiment, 13th Battalion (the South Downs Battalion). 

In July 1917 Bertram was attached to the Signal section of his Battalion in the Ypres sector where the Third Battle of Ypres was scheduled to commence in the area of Pilckem Ridge. He was ordered to lead troops close to the initial advance to ensure telephone and other communication links were laid from the forward posts back to the reserve positions and command. The advance began at 03.50 hours on 31st July.   Bertram was badly wounded in the early stages of the battle when a shell burst as he was leading his troops across No Man’s Land. Severly wounded in the abdomen and side, he was evacuated to the Casualty Clearing Station where he died shortly afterwards. Bertram was buried in Dozinghem Military Cemetery in Belgium.  The cemetery is located to the north-west of Poperinge near Krombeke.

In 2015 the Old Bancroftians Association was contacted by a lady in Scotland who had discovered a book of poems and other memorabilia in the belongings of her deceased aunt, Annie Knox. The poems were written by Bertram Andrews who left them with Annie on his return to the Front. The Old Bancroftians arranged for the poems to be transcribed and we are grateful to have the opportunity to reproduce the poems here. Our thanks go to Gordon Brown for bringing Bertram Andrews to our attention. 

Much of the biographical information on this page is reproduced from the Bertram Andrews page on The Bancroftian Network website http://bancroftians.net/cgi-bin/bancms3.pl?dn=centandrewsbjw

Bertram Andrews’ Poem

“Love and War” – Bertram Andrews

A while ago in London town,

I watched the crowds come trooping down

And mark’d the people passing by,

(Such hosts of people passing by)

All speeding on so pensively.

Oblivious of my stare.

Yet all the time I was aware

That one had gone who should be there,

Thus, searching in my memory,

I could not think who it should be

Till, happily,

I saw a soldier home from France

“’Tis he”, I thought, “That merry glance!

“’Tis Cupid who, his bow and dart

“For bomb and bayonet laid apart,

“No longer wars on human heart

“But wages warfare new.

“Yet that,” I ponder’d,” can’t be true.

“The land has lovers still a few.

“Who then can Cupid’s place supply,

“Since still his arrows seem to fly

“unerringly?”

Anon a maiden chanc’d to pass,

A bright and winsome, laughing lass;

Who, as she went, provokingly

Enslav’d mankind and dext’rously

Contrived, their hearts should captive be

To her whom next they view’d.

Now Cupid fights, his ancient feud

Is by his sister still pursued:

But deadlier her artillery

(His bow and quiver idle lie),

Her roguish eye.

Plumstead, August 1916

Sources:

Discover War Poets, Find my Past and 

https://thepostil.com/november-11-1918-the-poems-of-bertram-john-william-andrews/https://warpoets.org.uk/worldwar1/resources/unknown-war-poets/unknown-war-poets-bertram-andrews/love-and-war/

https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=8b1f85dc6a574c43&rlz=1C1CHBD_en-GBGB794GB794&sxsrf=APpeQns1_DIfwuifS2WcrMQ8jFPPd6N6sA:1788104088396&udm=2&fbs=ABfTbFVyMZGZf1hfvX9uKjN_-G8c4u0nXx4bEIpwm1lnNH832VstEKsVDqPorK0Gahnm2nrruedQ0d32Et2kDhW_DVrEfmexCwyVncqqJWDU0VvgxX3iEDPybK1uNDy8j8Tqn9NQxi-XK9o_7JRm4NNWR-BtqOns28zH1xsXQXkoq4zH6gqyqebZYsWYdDLTTbJSnHNVJrFLfOXXzh1-vQqUuHsQVLtvFQ&q=Bertram+Andrews+poet&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiCgYro1siWAxXtTEEAHSOnEksQtKgLegQIFRAB&biw=1385&bih=978&dpr=0.9#sv=CAMSURoyKhBlLVBIaVg0SjFoNVFMUy1NMg5QSGlYNEoxaDVRTFMtTToOUG9pcTAwd1UyRFVCZU0gBCoXCgFzEhBlLVBIaVg0SjFoNVFMUy1NGAEwARgHIIriooIOSggQARgBIAEoAQ

 

Edward Carless (1859 – 1945) – British amateur poet

Found by Paul Simadas 

 “The Lady Tram-Conductor: A Working Man’s Tribute” written by Edward Carless in 1916

Strange things happen in time of war;

A lady now conducts the car!

In uniform, so smart and trim,

She’s stepp’d into the place of him

Who answered to his country’s call,

And left his home, his work, and all.

In this way she’s released a man,

Doing her “bit” as best she can;

And if the truth of her we tell,

We must confess she does it well.

She’ll punch your ticket, and will smile,

And this will do in easy style;

And as she goes around the car,

Will sweetly call out where you are;

You’re right with her, daylight or dark,

From Lawnswood unto Roundhay Park.

From Pudsey unto City Square;

Just board the car, and pay your fare,

Telling her where you want to be,

And she’ll remember, this you’ll see,

And be you working-man or toff,

At the right place will put you off.

Let us think of what she’s doing,

When we on the car are going;

To our work, or out for pleasure;

Let us give to her full measure;

For the useful part she’s playing;

And may no one hear us saying

Aught that would grieve, or would offend,

But rather be to her a friend.

Let each one bear him as a man,

Help these conductors all he can.

Our admiration they all earn;

And if a strange job we’ve to do,

Keep a good heart, and buckle to,

Remember those across the foam,

Fighting for country, and for home,

These lads face all; naught to they shirk;

Let’s put that spirit in our work;

It’s a big job we have to do,

Let’s pull together; we’ll pull through.

Written by Burley* resident Edward Carless and dated 12th February 1916, the poem was self-published as a simple leaflet, made available by the author at the price of one penny* from his home address of 8 Thornville Street, where he was listed in Kelly’s Directory of Leeds from 1917:

*Burley is an inner-city suburb located about 1 mile north-west of Leeds city centre in Yorkshire, UK.

The very first Leeds tram took its trial run to test the track on 2nd July 1911. 

Edward Carless was born in Bentham, Yorkshire in 1859 and worked in a local iron foundry.   In 1888 Edward married Annie Macrow.   He died in 1945.

* One British penny in 1917 had the purchasing power equivalent to roughly 38p (or £0.38) today. 

Sources:  The Austro-Hungerian Armee in the Great War 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/225340620927223

Artists of the First World War Facebook Group 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/385353788875799/permalink/2277933356284490/

Find my Past. 

https://ww1.habsburger.net/en/media/moritz-ledeli-conductress-municipal-tramway-watercolour-191516

               A water colour painting by Austrian artist Moritz Ledellc (1856 – 1920) in 1915/16

Wilhelm Klemm (1881 – 1968) – German poet, publisher and doctor

Wilhelm was born in Leipzig on 15th May 1881. His parents were Rudolf Klemm (1853–1908), who owned and operated the Otto Klemm commission bookstore in Leipzig, and his wife Johanna Helene, nee Scharff (1855–1917).

Educated at the Thomasschule, Wilhelm went on to study medicine in order to become a physician. He studied at three German universities: Munich, Erlangen, and Kiel and completed his medical studies in 1905, before going to study chemistr at the University of Breslau.

 Like the Argentine poet Jorge Luis Borges (1899 – 1986), Wilhelm started writing poetry at a very early age and completed medical studies in 1905. However, he became a publisher when his father died, taking over his book business just 4 years after graduation.  

In 1915, while serving as a doctor with the German army in Flanders, Wilhelm  published his first volume of poetry entitled “Gloria! War Poems from the Field.”  An American review in 1916 named him as one of two “young artists who preferred emphasizing the realities of war to boasting their ‘Veterlandsliebe [Patriotism]’” and compared his work to Walt Whitman’s “Drum-taps”. His work also appeared in literary journals such as “Der Jugend” and “Simplicissimus” and later in Franz Pfermfert’s “Die Aktion”. Further published volumes were “Verse und Bilder” (1916), “Aufforderung” (1917), “Ergriffenheit“(1919), “Entfaltung” (1919), “Traumschutt” (1920) and “Verzauberte Ziele” (1921). His poems give a very realistic impression of war events and show how much he was affected by the war environment and the work he had to do at the front

“Battle on the Marne” (September 1914) 1917 by Wilhelm Klemm

Slowly the stones begin moving and speaking

The grasses freeze to green metal. The woods,

Deep dense hideouts, devour distant platoons.

The heavens, the chalk-white mystery, threaten to burst.

Two colossal hours roll out to two minutes.

The empty horizon expands upwards

My heart is as large as Germany and France together,

Bored through by all the bullets of the world.

The battery raises its lion voice

Six times out into the land. The shells howl.

Stillness. In the distance the infantry fire seethes,

For days, for weeks.

From: “Aufforderung”, first published 1917(Translated from the German by Penelope Monkhouse)

“Battle on the Marne” by Wilhelm Klemm describes the scene in September 1914; also a realistic depiction with apocalyptic traits. The freezing of the grass to “green metal” is a way of expressing the mass loss of life. Even nature has demon-like features. In the second part of the poem, he identifies with both countries – all suffer under the firing and shelling of the one huge lion of war.

After the war in 1921, Wilhelm took over his father-in-law's (Alfred Kröner) publishing firm - Alfred Kröner Verlag. He managed the publishing business until 1937, when the Nazi regime forced him to relinquish his position.

Wilhelm died on 23rd January 1968.

Source: Wilipedia

You can find out more about Penelope Monkhouse;s work on her website Behind their Lines - https://behindtheirlines.blogspot.com/2018/01/at-front.html

Sir Francis Osbert Sacheverell Sitwell, 5th Baronet CH CBE (1892 – 1969) _ British writer and poet

Osbert Sitwell

Osbert Sitwell was born on 6th December 1892 at 3 Arlington Street, St James's, London. His parents were Sir George Reresby Sitwell, fourth Baronet, a genealogist and antiquarian, and his wife Lady Ida Emily Augusta (née Denison). 

Osbert grew up in the family seat at Renishaw Hall, Derbyshire, and at family mansions in the region of Scarborough, and was educated at Ludgrove School, then Eton College from 1906 to 1909. 

In 1911 he joined the Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry but, not cut out to be a cavalry officer, transferred to the Grenadier Guards at the Tower of London from where, in his off-duty time, he could frequent theatres and art galleries.

In 1914 Sitwell's civilised life was exchanged for the trenches of France near Ypres in Belgium. It was here that he wrote his first poetry, describing it as "Some instinct, and a combination of feelings not hitherto experienced united to drive me to paper". "Babel" was published in The Times on 11 May 1916. In the same year, he began literary collaborations and anthologies with his brother and sister, the trio being usually referred to simply as the Sitwells.

In 1918 Sitwell left the Army with the rank of Captain, and contested the 1918 general election as the Liberal Party candidate for Scarborough and Whitby, finishing second.

After his father died, in 1943, Osbert succeeded to the baronetcy.

Osbert was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1956 and a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) in 1958.  He died on 4th May 1969

Sources: Wikipedia, Find my Past, 

You can find examples of Osbert Sitwell's war poetry here:

https://krex.k-state.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/4172151d-51fe-49d3-85db-29637d25c9f8/content

 

Tom Skeyhill (1895–1932) - Australian poet and writer

With thanks to Discover War Poets

Thomas John Skeyhill was born in 1895 in Terang, Victoria. Australia..  His parents were Annie and James Percy Skeyhill.  

Tom enlisted in the 8th Battalion of the Australian Imperial Force and served as a Signaller in the First World War. On 8th May 1915, during the advance at Cape Helles, Tom was blinded by an exploding Turkish shell; his sight was successfully restored in 1918. 

Tom ghostwrote an account about Alvin York*, which was later made into a film of the same name in 1941.  He was killed in a plane crash at Barnstable Municipal Airport in Hyannis, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod, USA and was buried with military honours in West Dennis, Massachusetts, where he had a summer home.

Here is one of his poems:

“Halt! Thy tread is on heroes' graves

Australian lads lie sleeping below:

Just rough wooden crosses at their heads

To let their comrades know.

They'd sleep no better for marble slabs,

Nor monuments so grand

They lie content, now their day is done

In that far-off foreign land.” 

Tom Skeyhill

NOTE:

*Alvin York was a celebrated American hero of the First World War, immortalized by the film version of his life story – “Sergeant York” (1941).

Sources Discover War Poets via X and Facebook

https://pennyspoetry.fandom.com/wiki/Tom_Skeyhill

https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/journals/id/16710/

Harley Matthews (1889-1968) - Australian

 With grateful thanks to Discover War Poets

Harley Matthews (registered at birth as Harry Matthews) was born on 27th April 1889 in St. Leonards, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. His parents were Henry Matthews, a clerk, and his wife Edith, née Morgan, both of whom were born in New South Wales   

Harley grew up on his parents' vineyard in Fairfield and was educated at Sydney Boys' High School. After working as an articled clerk from 1906 to 1914, he enlisted as a Private in the 4th Battalion of the Australian Imperial Force on 13th September 1914. 

Harley took part in the landing at Gallipoli on 25th April 1915, was Mentioned in Dispatches and wounded early in August. After service in France, in August 1916 he was posted to the Australian Army Pay Corps at A.I.F. Headquarters in London and was repatriated towards the end of 1917.  Repatriated towards the end of 1917, he was discharged on 29th December.

He was a prolific writer but Winemaking became a passion for him. He bought 58 acres of land near Sydney which he cleared himself and planted vines.

From 1912 to 1938 Harley Matthews published in Sydney three books of verse and a volume of short stories. 

Here is one of his poems:

“The Sleep of Death”

We see no terror in your eyes.

They say that sleeping you were found;

Now we with bayonets guard you round.

Night's shadow up the hillside creeps,

But you still watch the lighted skies,

Although the sentinel that sleeps

The next dawn dies.

Ah, the remorse is gone that grew

To think of what my comrade said:

"Give this to her when I am dead" -

A heart-shaped thing of little worth

That held her picture for his view,

But he was killed and in the earth

Before I knew.

It was last night. My watch I kept,

The stars just overhead shone dim.

Nought moved upon the hills' far rim.

But in the hollows shadows seethed,

And as I watched, towards me crept.

I listened: deep my comrades breathed

Where near they slept.

Below men moved innumerable -

Fancy! and yet there was a doubt.

I closed my eyes to shut them out,

And for relief drew deeper breath,

Across my lids Sleep laid his spell;

I flung it off - to sleep was death,

I knew too well.

There came a pleasant breath of air,

Cool-wafted from the stars it seemed.

I looked: now they all brightly gleamed,

Then long I watched, alert, clear-eyed.

No sleeper stirred behind me there...

Yet then of some one at my side

I grew aware.

I stared: for he stood there, though dead,

Yet looking, that seemed nothing strange;

About his form there was no change

To see within that little light.

"'Tis I. And yet you heard no tread.

A careless watch you keep to-night,"

He laughing said.

His voice no huskier had grown,

Then while I watched, he sat and told

Me of his love just as of old.

"Give this to her," I heard him say.

I looked, and found I was alone.

Within my hand the locket lay

Cold as a stone.

I have it here to prove he lies

Who says that sleeping I was found.

I fear not though you guard me round.

Night's shadow up the hillside creeps,

But I can watch the lighted skies,

Although the sentinel that sleeps

The next dawn dies.

Sources:  Discover War Poets via X and Facebook, Find my Past, Wikipedia,  https://allpoetry.com/Harley-Matthews and https://warpoets.org.uk/worldwar1/poets-and-poetry/harley-matthews/