Zigzagging past subs
no plane sailing
sailed to Malta
looked like land
cliffs without defence
open fire
shooting ducks
diving into sea for aid
ration packs weighed them
to drowning
Turks in the trench
storms brewing
graves wounds
ghastly sites
Sirens screaming
who’s next
who knows
unknown graves
open shells
broken hearts
family members down
forever……
too many threats for a moment of silence!
Far too many inexperienced
some only five foot tall
or volunteers
too many sent to unknown graves
Few managed to cut
the bloodied barbed wires
survive against the odds’
6 V.Cs before breakfast!
85 years later
fields finally ploughed near border
of France and Belgium
metal I.D. tags, some personal objects uncovered
tobacco, money, shaving cream at Ploeg street Wood
nearly one hundred years on…….
hair found, Richard Lancaster
re-interred at Prowse Point Commonwealth-
War Graves Cemetery in Belgium
proper burial
Grand daughter present
his personal belongings brought home
Too many unknown graves
no proper goodbyes
gruesome unprepared war
where too many died!
© Julia McClay
Weaving Words
