The Happy Warrior (27 page)

I'll be home to stay.

Anon

(AWM PR 00526)

Untitled

When this cruel war is over

And I'm starting home once more

I can see you waiting, Darling,

On the good old Aussie shore.

When I go to sleep, my precious,

In dreams your face I see,

For I live in hopes and memories

For you're all the world to me.

As I go on down life's pathway

In struggles, war and strife,

I'll be back again, I hope, dear

For you're my own sweet darling wife.

Dvr W.T. White (?)

(AWM PR 87 175)

An Old Faded Picture

There's an old faded picture hanging on our wall,

It's ancient paper mottled with no print left at all,

The scene is of lost days, with beauty that's still,

Of a tank on a stand, plus a lone windmill.

The mill has a shroud of hard red rust

That matches the colour of the local dust,

Now the tank is empty, the stand is rotten,

The water trough gone, and all but forgotten.

But the scene wasn't always of rust and of still

For once they were shining the tank and the mill,

As they worked together by day and by night

To man and beast a most wonderful sight.

Now there are many memories but very few lingers,

The rest run away like sand through old fingers;

There's an old faded picture hanging on our wall

It's ancient paper mottled. with no print left at all.

Tim Lawrance

20 August 1990

Forgetting

Forget You ? Well perhaps I may

Forget the very charming way

You smile, and then perhaps I might

Forget your eyes, your walk, your height.

Somehow I even may forget

The way you hold a cigarette

So carelessly, and who can tell

I may forget your voice as well.

With nonchalance and sans regret

All these things I might forget,

But the task too difficult to do

Would be forgetting — I Love You.

Cpl M. M. Carroll

(AWM PR 00544)

Our Parting

In this land so hot and sultry

With its rain and heavy dew

With its tin and rice and rubber

Here I sit and dream of you.

I often see you as we parted

How you smiled to hide the tear,

How you played your heart with courage

How I loved you then, my dear.

I tried to hide my feelings

With a carefree jovial air —

You must have thought me heartless

And that I ceased to care.

But just behind the reckless smile

I fought a bitter fight,

I felt the pangs of parting

As you did, Dear, that night.

I felt the tempter at my side,

To me he spoke quite clear

He said “The price you're asked to pay

Is costing you too dear!”

But if I had but turned my head

And “Yes!” to him had said

Unworthy of you I'd have been —

'Twere better I were dead.

I know you miss me every hour,

For me each night you pray,

I know you long for my return

Though long and rough the way.

But if to you I cannot come

With honour, head held high,

I know you will remember me

Our love could never die.

So as I think of you each night

I pray with all my heart

That we will reunited be

When we have played our part.

Jimmy Dickinson

2 AASC AIF Malaya

Killed in action 14 February1942

(AWM 3 DRL 6768A)

Take this Message

Take this message to my Mother

Far across the deep blue sea

It will fill her heart with pleasure

She will be glad to hear from me.

How she wept when last we parted,

How it filled her heart with pain

And she said “Goodbye, God bless you,

We may never meet again!”

Take this message to my Mother,

It is filled with words of joy

Tell her that her prayers are answered

God protects her little boy,

Tell her to be glad and cheerful

And pray for me where'er I roam,

And ere long I turn my footsteps

Back toward my dear old home.

Take this message to my Mother

It is filled with words of love,

If on earth I ne'er shall see her

Tell her we shall meet above,

Where there is no hour of parting

All is peace and love and joy.

God will bless my dear old Mother

And protect her absent boy.

Anon

There's a Land They Call Australia.

There's a land they call Australia,

It's a land we love so well,

For it's there we learn to soldier

And Britain's Army swell.

And often times when we're abroad

Our thoughts will surely turn

To Aussie, good old Aussie,

In our hearts you'll brightly burn.

From this land they call Australia,

For twelve months now or more,

I've seen their bright and happy faces

Leave for a distant shore,

The flower of Australia's manhood.

With a job of work to do

Leave their loved ones far behind them

Just to help old England through.

From this land they call Australia

I've seen them come and go;

I've seen 'em fat and forty,

I've seen 'em just sixteen or so.

Some were at the last one

And they're to the fore again,

For they're off again to this one

Just to see if war's the same.

From this land they call Australia

To my mates I've bid adieu;

Pals you'd give your life for

'Cause they'd do the same for you:

Tom and Jack, Frank and Bill

Gosh, you know them too?

They left their jobs and wives and sweethearts

'Cause they were Diggers through and through.

And this land they call Australia

Some will see no more,

'Cause they gave their lives, their very all,

Like their fathers did before;

But to their mates and pals whose luck has held

There's a debt you have to pay:

So see you stand up to your task

In the same Australian way.

And when this war is over

And Hitler's met the fate he's earned,

We'll meet again in Aussie,

Those of us that have returned,

And we'll stop and think a moment

Of the mates and pals we loved,

In the highest bloomin' possie

In their last Camp up above.

Will Handley

(AWM PR 85 205)

Just a Dream

I dreamt that I was home last night

And peace was here once more,

What a thrill it was to set foot once again

On dear old Aussie shores.

Gee! back home again! it was hard to believe

With Port Melbourne just the same,

I vowed right there on the wharf, they could keep all their wars —

I'd never leave Aussie again.

They were there in their thousands to meet us,

Cheering and screaming like hell,

And I turned to my mate on the boat rail and said,

“Boy, isn't this swell!”

Then I sighted Mum, and the rest of the family,

The tears just streamed down my face,

For the day that I dreamed of at last had arrived

And I longed for her loving embrace.

Then they let down the gangway;

The crowd with excitement went mad

The greatest moment of my life was here at last:

“My Mum! My Dad!”

They showered me with all sorts of questions

About places I want to forget,

For the war was over for me at last,

And by hell there were no regrets.

Then we left the scene of excitement

With its happiness, laughter, and tears

And made straight for Young and Jackson's,

Where we knocked down several beers.

The bar was full of laughter

As the boys told their narrow-squeak tales,

With a big pot of Carlton in one hand

And their foot once again on the rail.

At last we arrived at the home town

And a lump sort of grew in my throat,

She's the same as the day we waved her goodbye,

As we left on our way to the boat.

Then the band struck up on the station,

In a sec I was out of the train,

There were handshakes, streamers, and shouting

As they welcomed us home once again.

Then I pushed through the crowd on the station,

Through the gate and out on the street —

Then I felt someone tap on my shoulder,

“Wake up Dig, it's your turn on the beat.”

Will Handley

(AWM PR 85 205)

My Father

What were his thoughts as he lay in his bed,

His only part visible, his grey, ruffled head;

He could think of today, and also the morrow,

Of lots of laughs, or a little sorrow.

He could have been King,

But he wasn't in line,

Instead, just a man —

Upright and fine.

Tim Lawrance

28 May 1989

You

You are the wind that fills my sails,

The star that guides my way,

The oasis in this desert,

The smell of the forest after the rain.

You are the stillness of dawn,

The brilliance of its shafts of light,

You are like the dew in the morning that sparkles,

You are my bay for the storm that I'm in.

Your hair is like the flowing golden sand,

Your eyes reflect your nature: gentle and understanding,

Your mouth invites my kisses every time I see it,

Your skin is smooth and delicate like that of a peach.

The way you move is like the calming of the waves on a tropical shore

You give me sanctuary, happiness and, yes, that damn smile!

Capt. Danny Lea

A Letter from Home

When you're sitting in your dugout with your chin upon your hand

And your thoughts are ever flitting to that golden, far-off land,

When the dusty wind is blowing, and all is grit and sand,

What's the thing that bucks you up and makes you feel just grand?

A letter from home.

When air battles are araging and all is noise and din

And you're feeling tired and dusty, and just about all in,

Your hand goes to your pocket, gropes and finds the thing you seek

And you read it over once again, though you've had it for a week:

That letter from home.

When the air is full of Stukas, and the bombs are dropping fast

And the ack-ack guns are blazing and the Spitfires roaring past,

And the Navy's guns are booming out, bombarding from the sea,

When you reach the base you're heading for, you wonder if there'll be —

A letter from home.

So don't forget to write to him, he loves to hear the news,

And it's sure to cheer him up and drive away those blues;

It's better far than any leave he's likely to obtain,

Please do remember, get your pen, and write him once again:

A letter from home.

Anon

(AWM PR 87/062)

Storied Trails

The dust swells from the sun-drenched road

And billows in the bush scented breeze

'Tis the same torn track the sundowner strode

To the tune of the wind in the trees.

It winds ever onward and over the hill

Through the gums and gullies and all;

It passes the shack and the silent mill,

Which oft saw the sundowner call.

Gone is the man with the dog at his heels

And friendly greeting for all;

Along the old track sounds the piper's reels

And the brazen war bugle's call.

Where his camp fire gleamed at night

'Neath the clear and starry sky

Myriad lanterns twinkle bright

And a sentry paces nigh.

Comes the stamp of marching feet

And the suntanned ranks swing by,

Three by three with ringing beat

That causes the dust to fly.

The mirages dance on the road ahead

And nary a man but feels

That he is treading the steps of one long dead,

The man with the dog at his heels.

Anon

(AWM PR 87/062)

To Cairns

Immortal Cairns, gem of our northern seas!

Living green is found on every side our tired eyes to please,

Young peaks thrust proud heads to sapphire-tinted skies

And sparkling rivers downward flow to where the sun doth rise.

Oh, balmy spot! where winter's icy finger ne'er can reach,

Where southern sleet cold and snow are not;

Miles of waving cane nod soft heads in the lazy, friendly breeze

While red-roofed cottages nestle safely under Queensland's lovely trees.

On thy eastern side in rolls the great Pacific o'er

The coral barrier that ever rose from ocean floor;

Here the lordly sun each day spreads his golden fruitfulness,

Enriching thee, immortal Cairns, gem of our northern seas!

Ernest H. Graham

(AWM PR 82 056)

To Queensland

Oh, loveliest of all our states

The fairest jewel in Federal Crown

Set in sapphire seas,

Guardian from our enemies in tragic days like these!

Land of rugged mountains,

Rich in timber wealth,