Vance Palmer on the 'Euripides': Further War Poems

Abstract

In an earlier number of Notes & Furphies I suggested that the poems written by Vance Palmer for the magazine of the troopship which carried him to England in 1918, The Barambah Souvenir, were a significant addition to his work as a war poet. Further research into the trench and troopship literature of the Great War has shown that the "Barambah" poems and the war poetry in The Camp must be further supplemented by material written on the journey back to Australia. Palmer did not see active service, for the "Barambah" arrived in England three days after the armistice, but he witnessed at first hand the devastation of the battle zone. After a short period in England he joined his battalion which, with others of the 4th Division, was stationed at Florento near Charleroi in Belgium. He wrote to Frank Wilmot that he had little to do 'but go three times a day down to the inn kitchen ... and draw my rations'. As a result he had plenty of time to wander through the villages observing the inhabitants and the ruined landscape. He noted in the same letter that the Australians were generally well liked and could often be seen helping the villagers to restore the fabric of their shattered lives: 'you'll see one digger putting up a family clothes-line, another carrying water from the pump, another mending the kitchen window'. Palmer's stay in Belgium was limited, however, for the repatriation of the A.I.F. gained momentum during the summer of 1919 and in September the 14th Battalion embarked on the Troopship "Euripides" for the return to Australia.