The Missing of the Somme - In Chalky Fields of Picardie

In chalky fields of Picardie I roam,

Passing gentle hills and fields, just like home,

And indeed, these foreign fields on which I stand,

Have thousands of corners that are "forever England".

For it was here so many years ago, that our nation's bravest,

Were so swiftly cut down, in death's cruellest harvest,

In thousands they went forth, the enemy's fury to spurn,

Shot and blown to pieces, only hundreds to return.

In this place Hell's fury raged, guns and smoke and shells,

Summer's living fragrance, replaced by deathly smells,

For over seventy thousand, the Somme mud their unknown tomb,

Adorned with no scent of flowers, only poppies in blood red bloom.

It's hard to see now the scars of war, on the ridges and the vales,

Where farmers plough, and sheep so gently graze,

Yet in their midst, English gardens tell the tales -

Of courage and sacrifice, with memorials - and war graves.

And yet bombs and shells and pickets, all may be found,

With craters, parapets and trenches, preserved in the ground,

So peaceful now, so gentle, quiet and still,

Where guns no longer roar or stutter, and men no longer kill.

"Where is Grandad buried?" was once my enquiry,

Dad said, "Killed by shellfire - nothing left to bury -

Never knew my Father - when I was a small boy -

He died with the Middlesex - a place called Le Transloy".

And so at last, with spray of poppies in my hand,

At Thiepval, beside his name I stand -

With thoughts of sorrow, pride and tragedy,

For the Missing of the Somme, in chalky fields of Picardie.

© Peter Jonathan Kefford 1995

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Dedicated to the memory of

Private William Kefford

One of the Missing of the Somme

Thiepval Memorial - Panel 13B

G12448 - 7th Battalion Royal Sussex Regiment

G40394 - 2nd Battalion Middlesex Regiment

Born 11 November 1880 at Barton Le Clay, Bedfordshire

Killed in Action 23 October 1916 at Le Transloy, France