Rhymes of a Red Cross Man

<p><SPAN name="link2H_4_0038" id="link2H_4_0038"></SPAN></p> <br/> <h2> Bill the Bomber </h2> <p>The poppies gleamed like bloody pools through cotton-woolly mist;<br/> The Captain kept a-lookin' at the watch upon his wrist;<br/> And there we smoked and squatted, as we watched the shrapnel flame;<br/> 'Twas wonnerful, I'm tellin' you, how fast them bullets came.<br/> 'Twas weary work the waiting, though; I tried to sleep a wink,<br/> For waitin' means a-thinkin', and it doesn't do to think.<br/> So I closed my eyes a little, and I had a niceish dream<br/> Of a-standin' by a dresser with a dish of Devon cream;<br/> But I hadn't time to sample it, for suddenlike I woke:<br/> "Come on, me lads!" the Captain says, 'n I climbed out through the smoke.<br/> <br/> We spread out in the open: it was like a bath of lead;<br/> But the boys they cheered and hollered fit to raise the bloody dead,<br/> Till a beastly bullet copped 'em, then they lay without a sound,<br/> And it's odd&mdash;we didn't seem to heed them corpses on the ground.<br/> And I kept on thinkin', thinkin', as the bullets faster flew,<br/> How they picks the werry best men, and they lets the rotters through;<br/> So indiscriminatin' like, they spares a man of sin,<br/> And a rare lad wot's a husband and a father gets done in.<br/> And while havin' these reflections and advancin' on the run,<br/> A bullet biffs me shoulder, and says I: "That's number one."<br/> <br/> Well, it downed me for a jiffy, but I didn't lose me calm,<br/> For I knew that I was needed: I'm a bomber, so I am.<br/> I 'ad lost me cap and rifle, but I "carried on" because<br/> I 'ad me bombs and knew that they was needed, so they was.<br/> We didn't 'ave no singin' now, nor many men to cheer;<br/> Maybe the shrapnel drowned 'em, crashin' out so werry near;<br/> And the Maxims got us sideways, and the bullets faster flew,<br/> And I copped one on me flipper, and says I: "That's number two."<br/> <br/> I was pleased it was the left one, for I 'ad me bombs, ye see,<br/> And 'twas 'ard if they'd be wasted like, and all along o' me.<br/> And I'd lost me 'at and rifle&mdash;but I told you that before,<br/> So I packed me mit inside me coat and "carried on" once more.<br/> But the rumpus it was wicked, and the men were scarcer yet,<br/> And I felt me ginger goin', but me jaws I kindo set,<br/> And we passed the Boche first trenches, which was 'eapin' 'igh with dead,<br/> And we started for their second, which was fifty feet ahead;<br/> When something like a 'ammer smashed me savage on the knee,<br/> And down I came all muck and blood: Says I: "That's number three."<br/> <br/> So there I lay all 'elpless like, and bloody sick at that,<br/> And worryin' like anythink, because I'd lost me 'at;<br/> And thinkin' of me missis, and the partin' words she said:<br/> "If you gets killed, write quick, ol' man, and tell me as you're dead."<br/> And lookin' at me bunch o' bombs&mdash;that was the 'ardest blow,<br/> To think I'd never 'ave the chance to 'url them at the foe.<br/> And there was all our boys in front, a-fightin' there like mad,<br/> And me as could 'ave 'elped 'em wiv the lovely bombs I 'ad.<br/> And so I cussed and cussed, and then I struggled back again,<br/> Into that bit of battered trench, packed solid with its slain.<br/> <br/> Now as I lay a-lyin' there and blastin' of me lot,<br/> And wishin' I could just dispose of all them bombs I'd got,<br/> I sees within the doorway of a shy, retirin' dug-out<br/> Six Boches all a-grinnin', and their Captain stuck 'is mug out;<br/> And they 'ad a nice machine gun, and I twigged what they was at;<br/> And they fixed it on a tripod, and I watched 'em like a cat;<br/> And they got it in position, and they seemed so werry glad,<br/> Like they'd got us in a death-trap, which, condemn their souls! they 'ad.<br/> For there our boys was fightin' fifty yards in front, and 'ere<br/> This lousy bunch of Boches they 'ad got us in the rear.<br/> <br/> Oh it set me blood a-boilin' and I quite forgot me pain,<br/> So I started crawlin', crawlin' over all them mounds of slain;<br/> And them barstards was so busy-like they 'ad no eyes for me,<br/> And me bleedin' leg was draggin', but me right arm it was free. . . .<br/> And now they 'ave it all in shape, and swingin' sweet and clear;<br/> And now they're all excited like, but&mdash;I am drawin' near;<br/> And now they 'ave it loaded up, and now they're takin' aim. . . .<br/> Rat-tat-tat-tat! Oh here, says I, is where I join the game.<br/> And my right arm it goes swingin', and a bomb it goes a-slingin',<br/> And that "typewriter" goes wingin' in a thunderbolt of flame.<br/> <br/> Then these Boches, wot was left of 'em, they tumbled down their 'ole,<br/> And up I climbed a mound of dead, and down on them I stole.<br/> And oh that blessed moment when I heard their frightened yell,<br/> And I laughed down in that dug-out, ere I bombed their souls to hell.<br/> And now I'm in the hospital, surprised that I'm alive;<br/> We started out a thousand men, we came back thirty-five.<br/> And I'm minus of a trotter, but I'm most amazin' gay,<br/> For me bombs they wasn't wasted, though, you might say, "thrown away".<br/></p> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />