Willie Mcbride
Tekst af: Eric Bogle
I en Bredde af omtrent 40 km begyndte i Går det i mange Måneder med ubegrænsede Midler forberedte store engelsk-franske Masseangreb efter 7 dages stærkeste Artilleri- og Gasforudvirkning på begge Bredder af Somme og Acre Bækken.
Thyge Thygesen am 29.9.1916 in der Schlacht an der Somme durch Verschuttung verwundet wurde.
Though buried in a distant grave,
Amidst the shot and shell,
For Country's sake his life he gave,
He stood his trial well.
Amidst the shot and shell,
For Country's sake his life he gave,
He stood his trial well.
Serien her kan kaldes billedarkæologisk, da billeder fra slaget analyseres og sammenholdes med slagmarken i dag.
Allerede det, at vente hele dagen i mer eller mindre beskyttede stillinger er slemt nok; geværildens raslen og kanonernes drøn tillader os ikke at tænke på andet end de stakkels fyre, der bliver ramt.
"Have you news of my boy Jack?”
Not this tide.
“When d’you think that he’ll come back?”
Not with this wind blowing, and this tide.
Not this tide.
“When d’you think that he’ll come back?”
Not with this wind blowing, and this tide.
This is THE great effort to break through & end the war
I alle Krige har Tabene som Følge af Sygdomme været betydelig større end Antallet af saarede.
Slaget Mons blev den første træfning mellem de tyske tropper og de engelske.
Do you mind if I sit here down by your graveside,
I'll rest for a while in the warm summer sun
I've been walking all day, Lord and I'm nearly done
I see by your gravestone you were only 19
When you joined the great fallen of 1916
I hope you died well and I hope you died clean
Or young Willie McBride was it slow and obscene
Did they beat the drum slowly and play the fife lowly,
did they sound the death march as they lowered you down ?
and did the band play the last post and chorus ?
And did the pipes play the flowers of the forest
Did you leave a wife or a sweetheart behind
In some faithful heart is your memory enshrined
And though you died back in 1916, to that loyal heart are you forever 19
Or are you a stranger without even a name
Enshrined there forever behind a glass pane
In an old photograph torn and tattered and
stained
And fading to yellow in a brown leather frame
Did they beat the drum slowly and play the fife lowly,
did they sound the death march as they lowered you down ?
and did the band play the last post and chorus ?
And did the pipes play the flowers of the forest
The sun's shining now on the green Fields of France
The warm wind blows gently and the red poppies dance
The trenches have vanished long under the plough
There's no gas, no barbed wire, there's no guns firing now
But here in this graveyard it's still no man's land
And the countless white crosses in mute witness stand
To man's blind indifference to his fellow man
And a whole generation who were butchered and damned
Did they beat the drum slowly and play the fife lowly,
did they sound the death march as they lowered you down ?
and did the band play the last post and chorus ?
And did the pipes play the flowers of the forest
And I can't help but wonder young Willie McBride
Do all who lie here with you know why they died
Did you really believe it when they told you the cause
Did you honestly think that one war would end wars
Well your suffering, your sorrow, your glory, your shame
Your killing, your dying, it was all done in vain..........
'Cos young Willie McBride it all happened again, and again, and again, and again and again.
Did they beat the drum slowly and play the fife lowly,
did they sound the death march as they lowered you down ?
and did the band play the last post and chorus ?
And did the pipes play the flowers of the forest
