大象传媒

From farms, villages, towns and cities,
Came the tramp of feet, to join the throng,
The sound of well known songs and ditties,
From youthful throats, both loud and long.

They could not know what was to come,
Or fear the frightful stress of war.
T'would be a jolly jaunt for some,
A holiday on some foreign shore.

A brand new uniform puttees too, even stripes for some,
Excitement, adventure, free meals and a chance to see, away from home,
The world beyond our own front door.

So off we went with spirits high,
To join the army -do our bit
For King and Country - do or die,
A bonus was - our band new kit.

For a week or two we learned to fight
With rifles, bayonets and such like things,
Our transition too was erudite,
From carefree youth to werrior kings.

Our leaders too were trained as well,
We soon learned 'who was who',
'Obey my orders, do not dwell,
As I tell you, so you do!'

They formed us up, then shipped us out,
To France, to fight the foe,
In one more day, or thereabout,
We'd crouch in trenches, row on row.

In those trenches it was hell,
Our bodies racked with pain,
Knee deep in snow, and mud as well,
'Just stick it out lads' don't complain.

Within the hour we will attack,
And go forward thirty yards,
The objective is that broken shack,
Filled with first class front-line guards.

Then off we went on this attack,
We surged across the open spaces,
With not a thought of turning back,
And plainly saw our enemies faces.

Their guns spay death, our comrades fell,
A shell hole gave some sort of cover,
We dared not move, for quite a spell,
As darkness fell, the fight was over.

Near silent now, with fighting ceased,
We crept from thay cordite smelling hole.
From our dying comrades, moans
Back to where we started out - still whole!

A few more yards of ground were lost,
Though we had done our damnest,
Hundreds of our 'pals' were lost,
For what reward? Eternal rest!

The years roll on, and memories dim,
Some 'pals' survived to tell the tale,
And though it made their lifespan slim,
They'd fought for country - tooth and nail.

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