Came across these...

And the band played Waltzing Matilda, The Pogues

When I was a young man I carried my pack
And I lived the free life of a rover
From the Murrays green basin to the dusty outback
I waltzed my Matilda all over
Then in nineteen fifteen my country said Son
It's time to stop rambling 'cause there's work to be done
So they gave me a tin hat and they gave me a gun
And they sent me away to the war
And the band played Waltzing Matilda
As we sailed away from the quay
And amidst all the tears and the shouts and the cheers
We sailed off to Gallipoli
How well I remember that terrible day
How the blood stained the sand and the water
And how in that hell that they called Suvla Bay
We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter
Johnny Turk he was ready, he primed himself well
He chased us with bullets, he rained us with shells
And in five minutes flat he'd blown us all to hell
Nearly blew us right back to Australia
But the band played Waltzing Matilda
As we stopped to bury our slain
We buried ours and the Turks buried theirs
Then we started all over again
Now those that were left, well we tried to survive
In a mad world of blood, death and fire
And for ten weary weeks I kept myself alive
But around me the corpses piled higher
Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over tit
And when I woke up in my hospital bed
And saw what it had done, I wished I was dead
Never knew there were worse things than dying
For no more I'll go waltzing Matilda
All around the green bush far and near
For to hump tent and pegs, a man needs two legs
No more waltzing Matilda for me
So they collected the cripples, the wounded, the maimed
And they shipped us back home to Australia
The armless, the legless, the blind, the insane
Those proud wounded heroes of Suvla
And as our ship pulled into Circular Quay
I looked at the place where my legs used to be
And thank Christ there was nobody waiting for me
To grieve and to mourn and to pity
And the band played Waltzing Matilda
As they carried us down the gangway
But nobody cheered, they just stood and stared
Then turned all their faces away
And now every April I sit on my porch
And I watch the parade pass before me
And I watch my old comrades, how proudly they march
Reliving old dreams of past glory
And the old men march slowly, all bent, stiff and sore
The forgotten heroes from a forgotten war
And the young people ask, "What are they marching for?"
And I ask myself the same question
And the band plays Waltzing Matilda
And the old men answer to the call
But year after year their numbers get fewer
Some day no one will march there at all
Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
Who'll come a waltzing Matilda with me
And their ghosts may be heard as you pass the Billabong
Who'll come-a-waltzing Matilda with me?

The War Prayer

By Mark Twain

O Lord our God, help us to tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our shells; help us to lay waste their humble homes with a hurricane of fire; help us to wring the hearts of their unoffending widows with unavailing grief; help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale forms of their patriot dead; help us to drown the thunder of the guns with the shrieks of their wounded, writhing in pain; help us to lay waste their humble homes with a hurricane of fire; help us to wring the hearts of their unoffending widows with unavailing grief; help us to turn them out roofless with little children to wander unfriended the wastes of their desolated land in rage and hunger and thirst…..we ask it in the spirit of love of Him who is the source of love, and who is the ever faithful refuge and friend of all who are sore beset and who seek his aid with humble and contrite hearts. Amen.

Colonel John McCrae..
In Flanders' Fields..


In Flanders' Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders' Fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe;
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders' Fields.

here ya Belladonna
And the band played Waltzing Matilda Liam Clancy
http://youtu.be/PFCekeoSTwg

Bob Dylan sang a song, "God's on my side", but whose side, I wonder?

G'day....

http://www.28maoribattalion.org.nz/audio/c-company-haka

Cheers.

G'day again,

This is Prince Tui Teka and the 'Maori Battalion Trilogy' a must look and listen....very moving.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRhS-h3PriY

Cheers.

Along with the ANZAC theme,I was pleased to see that the Student Army in Chch,have been given a special place in tomorrows Honours.Well deserved too,after what they did through out all the Earthquakes in the area.And overseas as well too.Good for them

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPFjToKuZQM

Cheers for the links,I've only had BB for a little while & keep forgetting I can do Youtube now!


"Bob Dylan sang a song, "God's on my side", but whose side, I wonder?"

Ah well GB I expect the victors would claim theirs...

Te Awamutu RSA Cemetery...Anzac Day

For once I woke up at exactly 6 am, so turned on TV and watched the dawn parade in Auckland and Christchurch. Very moving ceremonies. All credit to the old servicemen who were up and in attendance. It was quite a long time to stand on a chilly morning, but they did their fallen comrades proud. I never tire of hearing those laments each year and the heart piercing Last Post.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.