Ghosts - Phantoms On The Anzac Battlefields Poem by Paul Warren

After 1918 with the war won, the troops left the Western Front lines
Around Armentières they started to clean up the detritus they would find
Then on those cold nights on the old battlefields reports started to come in
Of groups of Australian soldiers walking the roads and laneways again

And they were knocking on restaurant and farm housedoors
Wanting fried eggs, chips and wine like they had done many times before
But these soldiers were unlike others who had asked in the past
They were the phantoms of dead soldiers making the French people gasp

One group were so jolly they were let in, having a meal and paying with old coins
Then there was the large digger with a wounded throat wanting a drink purloined
The French Government became involved when the rumours persisted then
So they sent scientists to get to the bottom of it and the rumours to end

And one evening as they were near Armentières, they encountered some diggers
Who waved them to follow as they ran forward to the crest of a hill with vigour
The scientists saw figures struggling and fighting until they suddenly disappeared
They reported these events as the mystery remained as phantoms again reappeared.

© Paul Warren Poetry