WORLD WAR ONE POEM ABOUT AN AUSTRIAN SOLDIER CALLED FELIX LUKEK...

Felix Lukek: A Dead World War One Soldier…

It lay in a display case, dull,

Compressed lightly,

The size of a large postage stamp,

But worked in brass,

Its necklace of leather tied still

And I hesitated slightly.

It lay, compact and hinged,

Stressed and unique,

Its secret held within

And preserved by brass:

An identification tag from World War 1,

On sale as an antique…

It lay, opened out, creased,

Yet carefully folded:

An infantryman’s personal details,

Quite enclosed in brass;

A Styrian from St Ruprecht,

Whose story then unfolded…

Felix Lukek was from Gurkfeld, now in Slovenia,

He was just twenty-one years old in 1914;

He fought the British near Arsiero, Italy,

Part of an assault company in Regiment 17…

In 1918, possibly at a hill once called de Guardiano, 

On the 15th June, Lukek was fatally wounded;

He would die from his injuries one day later,

As guns and shells recurrently pounded…

I held that brass tag and felt humbled,

For Felix was there in my hand;

I purchased it, I have cherished it:

A memorial in a foreign land…

Pete Ray

November 10th 2016

I bought the tag in an antique shop in Chipping Campden. I was shocked that the metal tag opened to reveal information about Felix Lukek, including where he came from and what inoculations he had received.

I needed to buy the unusual item…

Having spoken to M.P. Gisela Stuart when she inspected the new Schools Liaison Department’s teaching rooms in Birmingham Museum some years back, I wondered whether she would be willing to contact the German Embassy to find out more information about Felix, which she so kindly did. 

Next was the Austrian Embassy and Martin Eichtinger looked into the records for us. Sadly, Felix’s war records were apparently lost or destroyed in Slovenia at some point.

At least I was able to ascertain where Felix’s Company had been based and where his end came.

It is possible that he had a brother, a cannoneer called Ferdinand, who was born in the same town and suffered from psoriasis, being treated at both the Cilli reserve hospital and later at the Cracow fortress hospital…

Many thanks to Gisela and Martin…

I will treasure Felix’s memory…