BRAVE TOMMY
By Russell Iles (2007)
SHOT AT DAWN
That summer morn The rifle sound Echoes all around Brave Tommy is no more Of course that is a lie He fought for king and country He fought for you and I Not knowing what to do He came upon an empty barn And slept the whole day through And taken back in chains You will be taught a lesson son You won’t see home again Your son was very brave She believed the lies they told her And took them to her grave. And the price he had to pay Thank you for our freedom Remember them on poppy day By Russell Iles (2007) Mr Kitchener what have you done To the trenches he was sent You’ve killed my one and only son Killed in action, cruelly slain I wish that you could feel my pain For not has long as I will live Even if this war is won You’ve killed my one and only son For in France my son will remain With thousands of others cruelly slain I blame one person, only one. And that person is not the Hun. Oh Mr Kitchener what have you done. You’ve killed my one and only son. BY Russell Iles (2007)
Whistle and sing as you march away For you’ll be home by Christmas day Fight the good fight, and don’t delay And many a mother for their sons did pray Not many realised that summer’s day And be there still, this very day Who marched away to defend this land Rows of headstones mark where they lay OVER THE TOP Russell Iles (2006) Over the top they go To meet they’re doom For all they know As they try to breach that damned barbed wire Many bodies fall along the way Few live to fight another day With the sound of thunder The fear they feel We cannot wonder Amongst the poppies all around Suddenly there is no sound As silence falls on the battleground Leave that devastated scene And pray for friends That once had been Of wars bitter taste Of friends they’ve lost It’s such a waste What’s the point, so many slain And many a mother will feel the pain Your son’s not coming home again
They say he was a coward
Shell-shocked he wandered aimlessly
Brave Tommy was awoken
Tommy’s mother received a letter
But we remember Tommy
MR. KITCHENER
You’ve killed my one and only son
His last days of youth in terror spent
Mr Kitchener what have you done
Mr Kitchener could I forgive
Life for me is not the same
YOUR COUNTRY NEEDS YOU
Come on lads, defend this land
Off to France, ye merry band
The enemy is on it’s way
Your country needs you, the posters say
As they whistled and marched away
That in the fields of France they’d stay
We won’t forget that merry band
Remember them on poppy day
The whistle blows
They run into a hail of fire
As shells explode
Many men have fallen down
Survivors few and far between
To mother’s they write
Tomorrow we will fight in vain