11th November 1918
Battery Sergeant Major F Steeden
Killed in action
Aged just twenty years
Buried in the Fretin Communal Cemetery
Northern France
Served in
The Royal Horse Artillery
The Great War
Ended
Exactly
11 minutes after 11am
11th November 1918
Circumstances of his death?
Only an obituary
The London Gazette
‘When the battery wagon line was repeatedly shelled heavily, he displayed a complete disregard of personal danger, and by his coolness and initiative succeeded in keeping all ranks steady, and by slight moves saved many causalities’
From the outside
Looking in
Battery Sergeant Major F Steeden
On that day
Had only to
Wake up
Have breakfast
Take ablutions
Perhaps read a newspaper
Over a cup of sweet char
Check out the runners and riders
At Kempton Park
At lunchtime
Go on a bender
Of celebration
He had an inkling
That this day
Would see an end
To hostilities
Keep a low profile
Instead
He got himself killed
A hero’s death
On that November day
Had to keep safe
For just a couple of hours
That is all
The War that
Had ravaged Europe
Leaving millions
Dead
Or maimed
Four long years
The War
Supposedly to end all Wars
Would be over
Well before lunch
If the Germans were
Up for a morning’s shelling
A swansong
Just ignore them
Their leaders
About to sign
An armistice
Ending it all
Luck does not get much worse
Battery Sergeant Major F Steeden
Easy
From the outside
Looking in
War is not a simple thing
Battery Sergeant Major F Steeden
Whomsoever you were
We share a surname
We herald from London
The both of us
Who knows?
You are remembered here
- MIKE STEEDEN - 
And here.
Cheers.
Nice. Very good, once again. Your talent for invoking emotions is superb, as you never fall into trite sentiment or use overtly loud imagery to produce them. Nice stuff.
Cheers Sir.
They all must be remembered. Great job, Mike.
Cheers.
and here – what a finely wrought tribute to a valiant lad and the bitter irony of it all
Thank you Sir.
Mike, I never know what to expect when I come by, but you never disappoint. This was very moving. And sad. It reminds me of a man I knew who was in WWII and served four years as a gunner on a battleship in the Pacific. Two men he served with were run over and killed while crossing the street on V-Day.
These things are I think worth committing to print or whatever media fits best. Another blogger gpcox does a marvelous job through his blog keeping the memories of those who lost lives in the Korean war alive – his blog is worth a visit. I think he has ‘liked’ this so there will be a link on this post if you want to take a look. Cheers, Keep well, Mike
We know so little about that war to end all wars… The French soldiers said la der de ders… the last of the last.
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Der_des_Ders
A fine truth; a philosophy and very French – great saying that. I like it. Cheers.
Once again this is beautiful! I love the sentiment of uncovering the veil of anonymity that covers so many soldiers that lost their lives in a war that took place a century ago, the effects of which still influence us today. It kinda begs the question: Do you know if you’re related to F. Steeden somehow?
Regardless, this one had me gasping for air for a second. 1918 suddenly doesn’t seem so long ago anymore. I guess in many ways it isn’t, not in the least because the War to end all Wars turned out to be a misnomer of epic proportions:S
Cheers. I think he maybe related yet could not find a crucial link went putting a family tree together save for the fact we have an unusual surname and herald from the same town. I did however discover my great, great…something grandmother was called Eliza Mean – tracked her back to 1765 I recall. What a great name!
Eliza Mean…should we be expecting a poem about her anytime soon? That name is awesome. Btw, can I ask…does your family have any Dutch background, since the name ‘Steeden’ sounds very Dutch to me…
Eliza married a Steeden. Piss poor peasants working farmland in Suffolk on the East Coast of England. Maybe a connection with the Dutch. Maybe Romany given the time period and the farm hand connection. Not too sure – certainly not many Steeden’s in the UK though.
You did that young man’s life good, sir. I am thinking of him now.
Thank you.
Goodness, such rotten luck. The tale pulled me right in. My birthday is 11/11, I’ve always been a shit about that, telling everyone they stopped a war on my birthday (a couple years before my birth). Sometimes they have parades and/or fire off 21 gun salutes. Anyway, a great story, but sad. I
Many thanks.