brake my legs: Breaking the legs of the crucified hastened death. According to John 19:33, ‘But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs.’
wrapped my mangled body…perfume: ‘Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury’ (John 19:40).
laid it in the tomb: ‘Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid. There laid they Jesus’ (John 19:41–2).
Versailles: The Treaty of Versailles, the peace agreement between Germany and the Allies, was signed on 28 June 1919, and was named after the palace in which it was signed.
made fast the open door: According to Mark 15:46, the tomb in which Jesus was laid was sealed by rolling a stone across the entrance.
the Council: See ‘Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death’ (Matthew 26:59). Two representatives from each of the ‘Big Five’ nations – France, Great Britain, Italy, Japan and the United States – met from the start as the Council of Ten to deal with immediate military and humanitarian problems. This quickly became the forum for most of the significant discussions of territorial questions, and a summit council of four, excluding Japan, was established in March 1919.
the Prince of Peace: Another name for Christ, from the prophecy in Isaiah 9:6: ‘For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace’.
The Dead and the Living
The Cenotaph
Cenotaph: The original Cenotaph (named from the Greek for ‘empty tomb’) was designed by Edwin Lutyens and built of wood and plaster for use on Peace Day on 19 July 1919. It was re-created in Portland marble in time for the second commemoration of the Armistice, on 11 November 1920.
huckster: A person ready to make profit from anything, however small.
The Silence
The Silence: The practice of observing two minutes’ silence at 11 a.m. every 11 November commemorates the moment when hostilities ceased on the Western Front in 1918 and the Armistice came into effect. It was instigated in 1919 as a symbol of remembrance, and has since become an opportunity to remember the dead of all wars.
hoar: Grey or frosty.
down: A gently rolling hill.
The Altar of Remembrance: A poeticism for the Cenotaph.
Mecca: The spiritual centre of Islam, believed to be the birthplace of the prophet Muhammad, and the direction towards which all Muslims in the world orient their prayer mats. Every Muslim who can afford it is expected to undertake a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in his or her life.
smite: Strike or deal a blow, often with a sword.
Armistice Day, 1921
Armistice Day: Armistice Day was first celebrated on 11 November 1919, and is now the day on which the dead of all wars are remembered with two minutes of silence.
arrested: Halted.
barrel-organs: Musical instruments in which turning a handle produces a sound. Commonly used by beggars, many of whom after the war were ex-soldiers left without employment.
‘Out of the Mouths of Babes –’
‘Out of the Mouths of Babes –’: The title is an allusion to Psalms 8.2: ‘Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies’. The phrase also appears in Matthew 21.16: ‘And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?’
ring the cross: Surround the war memorial, which was often in the shape of a cross.
Memorial Tablet
‘In proud and glorious memory’: A common phrase on many war memorials and gravestones.
Elegy in a Country Churchyard
Elegy in a Country Churchyard: The title alludes to the poem of the same name, a meditation upon the nature of death and fame, by Thomas Gray (1716–71).
conclave: A private meeting, especially of cardinals in the Catholic Church electing a new pope.
Epitaph on an Army of Mercenaries
Written after the First Battle of Ypres, in 1914, when the press made much of the distinction between those soldiers who had joined the army before the war and what Housman calls ‘mercenaries’ – those soldiers who had volunteered after the outbreak of hostilities.
On Passing the New Menin Gate
Menin Gate: Designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield, the Menin Gate at Ypres was unveiled on 24 July 1927. Made of French limestone, it lists the 54,900 names of those who fought and died near Ypres and whose bodies were never found. At 8 o’clock each evening the local police stop traffic from passing underneath the gate, and the Last Post is played. This will continue until the Last Post has been played for every man named on the memorial.
Their name liveth for ever: ‘Their name liveth for evermore’ is inscribed on all Stones of Remembrance, designed by Edwin Lutyens to represent those of all faiths and none, in British war cemeteries containing more than 1,000 graves. The quotation was chosen by Rudyard Kipling from the Apocrypha:
‘Their bodies are buried in peace; but their name liveth for
evermore’ (Ecclesiasticus 44:14).
immolation: Sacrificial slaughter of a victim, or the deliberate destruction of something for the sake of something else.
sepulchre: A tomb built from stone.
Hugh Selwyn Mauberley: V
Hugh Selwyn Mauberley: The titular hero of Pound’s poem is a fictitious character loosely based on Pound himself.
Quick: Alive. See ‘Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead’ (1 Peter 4:5).
gross: An amount equal to twelve dozen, or 144.
War and Peace
To old men’s stools: To jobs as office clerks alongside those who were too old to fight in the war.
Disabled
peg: A short drink, usually of whisky.
giddy jilts: Scots slang for ‘flighty women’.
daggers in plaid socks: A knife called a skean-dhu is worn in the top of a stocking as part of traditional Scottish Highland dress, and has been adopted by certain Scottish regiments.
Esprit de corps: Regimental spirit.
Strange Hells
Gloucester soldiers: Soldiers of the Gloucestershire Regiment, with which Gurney served.
diaphragms: The diaphragm is the large muscle, just below the ribcage, which controls the expansion of the lungs.
State-doles: The first Unemployment Benefit Act was passed in 1913. In 1919 it was expanded to take in all the people who had contributed to the war effort, and the benefits paid were given the unofficial name of ‘the dole’ because they had not been ‘earned’ by contributions and were therefore ‘doled’ out irrespective.
tatterns: Ragged, tatty clothing.
‘Have you forgotten yet?’
Festubert, 1916
This poem was retitled ‘1916 as seen from 1921’ when it was republished in Poems 1914–30 (London: Cobden Sanderson, 1930).
breastwork: Festubert had a well-established trench called the ‘Northern Breastwork’.
Shrewd: Sharply.
Lamplight
crossed swords in the Army List: A mark signifying that the soldier concerned had been wounded or killed in action – the Army List is the official register of commissioned officers serving in the British army.
A scarlet cross on my breast: A reference to the white linen aprons decorated with a red cross worn by nurses during the war.
Recalling War
silvered clean: Silver nitrate is a powerful antiseptic.
The track: Scar tissue.
a switch: A thin, flexible stick cut from a tree.
War Books
Cotswold: The Cotswolds are an area of great natural beauty in central England.
Aftermath
&nbs
p; gagged days: The Defence of the Realm Act, passed by the House of Commons on 8 August 1914, gave the government wide-ranging powers to control daily life in Britain, including what was said and written about the war.
The Midnight Skaters
hop-poles: Poles driven into the ground upon which the plants used in brewing are grown.
Ancient History
Adam: The first man created by God: ‘And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul’ (Genesis 2:7). Cain and Abel were his sons: ‘And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him’ (Genesis 4:8).
The War Generation: Ave
This poem is dated 1932.
Ave: Latin for ‘Hail!’
To a Conscript of 1940
Qui n’as pas…un héros: ‘He who has not once despaired of honour will never be a hero.’
Georges Bernanos: The French Catholic novelist and essayist (1888–1948). He wrote most of his major fiction between 1926 and 1937.
fretted: Ornamented as with jewels.
Coda: Ancre Sunshine
Claire: Claire Margaret Poynting was Blunden’s third wife. They were married on 29 May 1945.
lea: A tract of open ground, usually meadow, pasture or arable land.
A Glossary of the Western Front
Cross-references are indicated by italic type.
Aisne A département in the north-east of France, named after the river which bisects it to the south. ‘Aisne’ was the name given to the third phase of the German Spring Offensive that began on 27 May 1918.
Albert A town seven kilometres south-west of Bapaume. It was captured by the Germans in March 1918 and recaptured by the British five months later.
Allemand or Alleyman The French for ‘German’ or its equivalent in soldiers’ slang.
Ancre A river that rises south of Bapaume and flows to the Somme. It gave its name to a battle fought there in November 1916.
après la guerre finie French for ‘after the war has finished’. Used by soldiers and civilians alike, often sarcastically.
Arras A town on the river Scarpe, located twenty kilometres north of Bapaume, and the scene of heavy fighting in the autumn of 1914 and in April 1917.
Aubers Ridge Aubers Ridge was four kilometres from Laventie on the Somme battlefront.
Aveluy A small town, two kilometres north of Albert, and the location of the British 61st Divisional Headquarters during the war.
Bapaume A town five kilometres north-east of Aveluy, captured by the British in March 1917, by the Germans a year later, and finally retaken by the British in August 1918.
battalion The basic tactical infantry unit in the British army during the First World War. At full strength, it consisted of 30 officers and 977 other ranks, arranged in a battalion headquarters and four companies.
battery An artillery unit of guns, vehicles and men.
billet A place of rest assigned to soldiers.
Blighty Soldiers’ slang for ‘home’ or ‘England’, and also the name given to a wound that ensured a return to Blighty. Derived from ‘bilayati’, the Urdu word for ‘foreign, European’.
Boche or Bosches Soldiers’ slang for ‘Germans’. Derived from French slang of uncertain origin.
bombers Soldiers armed with Mills bombs, the first safe handheld grenade, invented by William Mills in 1915.
bolt-head See rifle.
breastwork See trench.
Cambrai A town ten kilometres east of Bapaume and the location of the final Allied attack on the Hindenburg Line, the system of German fortifications in the northern and central sectors of the Western Front, on 20 November 1917. German forces regained the ground they had lost by 7 December.
cartridge See rifle.
conscript Conscription (enforced military service) was introduced in January 1916, and was initially for unmarried men aged between eighteen and forty-one. It was extended to include married men and widowers in May 1916.
Corbie A small town fifteen kilometres east of Amiens. During the war it was used by British troops as a rest area and was the site of a casualty clearing station.
cordite An explosive, co-invented in 1889 by Sir James Dewar and Sir Frederick Abel. A blend of nitrocellulose, nitroglycerine and petroleum jelly, it gives off a strong smell but is in fact smokeless when fired.
Crucifix Corner A junction in the trench system on the banks of the Ancre near Aveluy, named after a dismembered crucifix that stood there.
crump See shell.
Dead Cow Farm This landmark lay about four kilometres due east of Neuve Eglise, a village itself about thirteen kilometres south-south-west of Ypres. It was so named by the British because of the presence of a number of cows’ carcasses.
Death’s Valley The section of the trench system closest to the British front line at Grandecourt, some six kilometres south of Albert, named after the biblical ‘valley of the shadow of death’ (Psalms 23:4).
duckboard See trench.
dugout See trench.
eighteen-pounders See shell.
emplacement A platform for heavy guns.
fatigues A soldier’s non-combatant duties, such as digging, wire-mending or food preparation.
Fauquissart A small village two kilometres south-west of Laventie.
Festubert A small village approximately eleven kilometres south of Laventie.
fire-step See trench.
five-nines See shell.
Flanders The area of Belgium which was the northernmost part of the Western Front during the First World War.
flare A cartridge containing a signal light, fired from a special pistol – used for signalling at night or for illuminating the enemy’s position. Sometimes called Very (or Verey) lights, after their inventor, Samuel W. Very.
foresight See rifle.
Fricourt A village about five kilometres east of Albert. It was one of the main objectives of the Allies on the first day of the Somme Offensive, but it remained in enemy hands.
Frise A village on the banks of the river Somme, about eight kilometres west of Peronne.
Fritz Soldiers’ slang for a German or Germans. The familiar form of ‘Friedrich’.
front See line.
fusilier A member of a British army regiment originally armed with light muskets.
gone West Soldiers’ slang for ‘died’.
Gonnehem A small town fifteen kilometres south-west of Laventie, and the scene of fierce fighting during the 1918 Spring Offensive.
High Wood Known by the French as Bois de Fourneaux (Furnace Wood), this was a prominent wooded area on the Somme and the scene of heavy fighting throughout the summer of 1916.
home service Military duty in one’s own country. During the First World War, a significant percentage of soldiers remained on home service, carrying out transport, clerical, farming and maintenance duties.
Hun Soldiers’ slang for a German. Derived from a speech given by the Kaiser in July 1900, when he drew a parallel between his and Attila the Hun’s troops: ‘Just as the Huns a thousand years ago…gained a reputation in virtue of which they still live in historical tradition, so may the name of Germany become known.’
Jack Johnson See shell.
Kaiser or Kaiser Bill Kaiser Wilhelm II (1859–1941) was Emperor of Germany from 1888 until 9 November 1918, when he abdicated and fled to Holland.
khaki From ‘kaki’, the Urdu for ‘dust-coloured’, and the name given to the light green-brown material used to make the uniforms of the British Expeditionary Force.
Last Post A bugle call traditionally sounded to signal the end of the military day, frequently accompanied by the order ‘Lights out!’. It is also played at military funerals and services of commemoration.
Laventie A town in Flanders, about thirty kilometres south of Ypres, where troops were stationed during the war.
Lewis gun A light machi
ne gun developed by the United States in 1911 and adopted by the British army in 1915. Although it was too heavy for efficient portable use, it became the standard support weapon for the infantry during the war.
lights out See Last Post.
limber The detachable front of a gun carriage.
line A military term describing the arrangement of trenches on the Western Front. In any given month, troops spent between three and seven days in the front-line or first-line trench, which directly faced the enemy. They would then withdraw to the support line for a similar period of time, and then go back to the reserve-line trench. After this, a week was spent ‘on rest’ before returning to the front line (frequently abbreviated to just ‘the line’). The phrase ‘the front’, however, refers to the front line, support line and reserve line.
loophole See trench.
Loos A town approximately twenty-three kilometres north-east of Ypres. In the secondary phase of a major Allied offensive on the Western Front in autumn 1915, the British First Army’s six divisions attacked and captured Loos on 25 September, but were thrown back on 13 October. The offensive cost the British Expeditionary Force 50,000 casualties.
Lord Derby’s scheme A voluntary recruitment scheme instigated by the Director of Recruiting, Lord Derby (1865–1948), in July 1915. ‘Derby Men’ enlisted in the army and served for just one day, before returning to their civilian occupations to await being called up according to age and occupation.
lyddite See shell.
Mametz Wood Four kilometres north-east of Albert and the scene of heavy fighting during the early days of the Somme Offensive in July 1916.
Menin Road The main road leading east from Ypres and the scene of some of the heaviest fighting by the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front, particularly during the First and Third Battles of Ypres.
mess-tins Square metal tins used by soldiers for washing and eating.
Miraumont A village two kilometres north-east of Grandcourt, which remained in German hands during the Somme Offensive, being captured by the British only in February 1917. The village is split into two sections by the river Ancre.
Mons A city approximately sixty-five kilometres south-west of Brussels and close to the border of France. Mons was the site of the first major engagement for the British Expeditionary Force in August and September 1914, as well as the site of the closing battles of the war.
The Penguin Book of First World War Poetry Page 22