Wednesday, 12 December 2018

IN THE RETREAT FROM MONS: A NEW WW1 POEM...

In The Retreat From Mons: The Royal Horse Guards



The expectation, the adrenaline, the sensation
Of an offensive
And the pre-battle rush, intensive,
Is evidently absent here… For exclusive
To this sombre squadron, retreating
Upon a wet, rutted road,
Their plight unabating,
Is trauma, grim trauma,
Through muddy debris and detritus intrusive,
Whilst the slime, the loathsome grime
For the wounded, merely compounds the crime
Of war. And weary, lean, dejected mounts
Sink tired hooves into the Mons mire…

Trench warfare would eventually render such cavalry units
Largely obsolete, pointless and criminally indecisive…

Pete Ray
December 2018

Lady Elizabeth Butler’s painting about the British Expeditionary Force’s retreat from Mons between August 23rd and September 5th, 1914.

The Royal Horse Guards covered the left flank of the BEF, as well as seeing other action, in Halte, Saultain, Cambria and NĂ©ry…





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