Whilst the BSF did not produce a poet of the stature of Wilfred Owen, it did have Rifleman T. B. Clark of the King’s Royal Rifle Corps whose poetry was published in a small volume – Rhymes of A Rifleman – by William Nicholson & Sons Ltd of London. Whilst this has not been perpetuated through exam syllabuses, from it we get an interesting view of the campaign from a thoughtful, pre-war private soldier. So, for National Poetry Day, here is Rifleman Clark’s poem, Once Through The Alphabet – Tommy’s Version, composed in the trenches in Macedonia, October 1917.
A stands for ‘Army’ duff – Tommys’ delight, there isn’t much left when the cook makes it right.
B stands for “Buckshees” which Tommies expect on account of the War there’s not much to collect.
C stands for Canteen to which Tommy hurries whenever in funds, to drown all his worries.
D stands for Dinner, our principal meal, if you’ve any complaints there’s a court of appeal.
E for the Famous Entrenching Brigades who discarded rifles in favour of spades.
F for Fatigues, a thing Tommy abhors, wiring, and digging, and bringing up stores.
G stands for “Gaffs” which make you feel jolly and go a long way to prevent melancholy.
H stands for “House” where you gamble your pay, you can lose quite a lot in the course of a day.
I for Iron rations, we’re told not to use them, but do very often, and swear that we lose them.
J stands for “Jankers” we’ve all had our share, it’s all in seven years, and that’s why we don’t care.
K, Kit inspection, you all know the game, it’s not all your own but it answers the same.
L stands for Leave, we were told we should get more than two years ago, and we’ve not had it yet.
M for Maconochie, mostly in store, when it comes out it’s a tin between four.
N is the Number each Tommy has got; if your number is long, then your service is not.
O stands for “On Tops”, alas it’s too true they’re not often found on the daily menu.
P stands for Pay which so soon disappears, Tommy thinks it high time he was paid in arrears.
Q stands for Quarters: most Tommies have been in very queer billets since 1914.
R stands for Rum which is issued so rarely, and candidly speaking, is not issued fairly.
S, the infamous Salonica Smokes, the subject of many ironical jokes.
T stands for Trenches, we’ve dug many scores, and had enough practice for many more wars.
U stands for Uniform, once such a picture, now the environment’s altered its texture.
V for Vocab’lary, and you will find Tommy’s a really remarkable kind.
W stands for the War that’s now raging, in which some are fighting, and others are “guaging.”
X for Time X we’re agreed about this, rolling home on the briney’s the acme of bliss.
Y stands for Yuletide, a name that expresses to Tommy, the joys of all sorts of excesses.
Z for Z company; some alterations were made in their names, to prevent complications.
In a British first line trench in the Balkans; from a stereoscopic image by Underwood & Underwood (author’s collection).
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Salonika Campaign Society, 1915-1918 
Thanks so much, Robin, for posting this! Good to see Rifleman Clark’s sense of humour and creativity didn’t desert him even when fighting in the Salonika campaign!
At the risk of exposing my ignorance, can you clarify:
‘A stands for duff’. Is that ‘Handstands for duff’ ie joyful celebrations?
‘Gaffs” – presumably jokes, rather than fishing gear?
What are ‘on tops’?
Thanks to the poem, I have discovered what a Machonochie is – sounds revolting!
Again, thanks for providing further insight into what life was like at war in Macedonia in 1917
Clare Claydon
Thanks for your comment, Clare, I’m glad you enjoyed it. I will be sharing more from the irrepressible Rifleman Clark; I assume he was known as ‘Nobby’ – all Clarks in the army were ‘Nobby’! A soldiers’ alphabet is not a unique format in verse, but this is probably the only one from the Macedonian campaign.
Two battalions of the KRRC – ‘King’s Rude Rich Rifles’! – were with 80th Brigade, 27th Division, spending most of their time at the mouth of the Struma Valley near the sea, facing ‘Johnny Turk’ for much of the time.
I was rather hoping that no one would ask me what some of the terms mean – sheer laziness on my part – but I shall do my best. ‘The Dictionary of Tommies’ Songs and Slangs, 1914-18′ by John Brophy and Eric Partridge is a valuable and entertaining source, although not exhaustive. It’s interesting how many of the poem’s references are to food – a major preoccupation for the bored soldier. My late father always referred to gravy as ‘jippo’ from his army service in the ’40s.
‘Duff’ is pudding, especially boiled suet pudding. Still doing service in the next war, as it pops up in ‘The Goon Show’ in the ’50s.
A ‘gaff’ is an entertainment, especially a concert; from nineteenth century slang, ‘penny gaff’.
‘On tops’ is not mentioned by Brophy and Partridge – but there must have been so many regional variations and regimental peculiarities – and a Google search made me blush, but my guess is some sort of dumpling on top of a stew …
Regarding ‘Salonika Smokes’, the Official History (Vol. I, p.271) has this to say: “About 24,000 lbs. of locally made cigarettes were issued monthly … these cigarettes, made from the finest and most costly Turkish tobacco, were looked upon with no favour by the troops, who would have given a dozen of them for one American ‘fag’.”
Given the British Army’s long association with India – 3rd and 4th KRRC had, along with most of 27th and 28th Divisions, returned from India in 1914 – it’s not surprising that much army slang comes from South Asia (e.g. ‘buckshees’ – a freebie). So I heartily recommend “Hobson-Jobson. The Anglo-Indian Dictionary” by Yule and Burnell and first published in 1886, which can be found online in a PDF version.
I have been really slow off the mark, so thank you to Clare for pushing me on ‘A is for Duff’ which makes no sense whatsoever! Anyway, a quick glance at the original text shows that it should be ‘A is for ‘Army’ Duff’ which makes more sense, although hardly shows Rifleman Clark at his most inventive! I have corrected the text, above.
An embarrassed Robin.
For the benefit of SCS members I have scanned my copy of ‘Rhymes of a Rifleman’ and uploaded it to the members’ area. If you haven’t already, I urge you to get your login and see what treasures are there! Robin