1914: THE GERMAN SHIP 'HERA' SINKS OFF THE CORNISH COAST...

A German ship, the ‘Hera’ sank off the Cornish coast in thick fog, in February 1914. 

Oddly, the Falmouth Seamen’s Chaplain was a Mr Badger and the German vice-consul was a Mr Fox, of Falmouth… 

There were five survivors and any bodies washed up along the coast were 

respectfully buried with a large attendance in Veryan's churchyard.

And yet months later the two countries were at war…

The grave is reputed to be the longest in England.

If We Had Only Known

If they had only known

What lay months ahead:

An assassination,

A culmination of muscling,

Tussling

And the outbreak of a rotten war,

Directed by commission,

Troopers of tradition.

If they had only known

What lay off Nare Head:

An abomination,

A termination of grounding,

Drowning

And the slaughter of a rotten mist,

Sinking by collision,

Not by ammunition.

If only they had known

What lay in Veryan, dead:

An indication,

A validation of mourning,

Warning

And the burial of a rotten crew,

Deformed by putrefaction:

A bacterial reaction.

If they had only known

What lay on the ocean bed.

An eradication,

A celebration of empathy,

Sympathy

And the cursing of a rotten wreck,

Silenced by dejection:

A natural rejection.

If only I had known

What lay on the grave’s head:

An appreciation,

A pacification of indifference,

Deference

And the memorials of a rotten death,

Blessed by resurrection

And eternal perfection…

Pete Ray