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Futile

This is in memory of all the thousands of servicemen who made the ultimate sacrifice during the First World War 1914 - 1918.

 

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,

Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,

Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs

And towards our distant rest began to trudge.

Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boot

But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;

Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots

Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.

Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! – An ecstasy of fumbling,

Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;

But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,

And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime . . .

Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,

As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.

In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,

He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace

Behind the wagon that we flung him in,

And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,

His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;

If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood

Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,

Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud

Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,

My friend, you would not tell with such high zest

To children ardent for some desperate glory,

The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est Pro patria mori.

 

DULCE ET DECORUM EST

By Wilfred Owen 1893 - 1918

 

Wilfred who was born in Shropshire in 1893 served his Country in the First World War. When he returned to the Western Front, after more than a year away, he took part in the breaking of the Hindenburg Line at Joncourt (October 1918) for which he was awarded the Military Cross in recognition of his courage and leadership. He was killed on 4 November 1918 during the battle to cross the Sambre-Oise canal at Ors.

 

www.jimroberts.co.uk

 

www.flickriver.com/photos/jimborobbo/popular-interesting/

 

All my photos and images are copyrighted to me although you are welcome to use them for non commercial purposes as long as you give credit to myself.

 

Thank you for looking at my photographs and for any comments it is much appreciated.

 

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Uploaded on August 27, 2014
Taken on July 30, 2014