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Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart


36804 Posts
Posted -  15/06/2008  :  07:26

UNCLE STAN’S WAR POETRY

I got a letter from the son and daughter in law of my Uncle Stan in Oz yesterday. They’ve been going through some of Stan’s papers and have sent a lot to the museum at Canberra but saved some poems written originally by Stan in the trenches during WW1.

[HUGHES, WILLIAM MORRIS (1862-1952), Australian prime minister, was born on 25 September 1862 at Pimlico, London, son of William Hughes, a carpenter from North Wales employed at the Houses of Parliament, and his wife Jane, née Morris. His father was Welsh speaking, a deacon of the Particular Baptist Church and a conservative in politics. His mother, a farmer's daughter from Llansantffraid, Montgomeryshire, who had been in service in London, was English speaking and Anglican. She was thirty-seven when she married, and William Morris was her only child.]

The freedom of the cities of England

Have been conferred on Billy Hughes

In exchange for a slavery called conscription

That he would try to impose on you

I see Billy is off to London

To misrepresent us once again

The best Australia wishes him is

That he may there forever remain

He kids he is high and mighty

But he will get an awful jolt

When he comes a cropper

Because he has shot his bolt.

(undated)

00000000000000000000

Dedicated to the memory of Corporal Charles Bourke. 3rd Battalion, 1st Brigade AIF who was killed in action in France 21st July 1916. [Coral thinks that this bloke was Uncle Stan’s brother in law because Alan had a cousin by the same name who was killed fighting the Japanese in WW2]

He was but a youthful warrior

Honourable, steadfast and brave

He fought for Liberty and Justice

And paid the penalty in a hero’s grave

He was loved and revered by his family

Who deeply mourn the loss of the one they held so dear

But the cause for which he gave his life

Will cause the shedding of many a tear

In years to come, his family

Will recall with honour and pride

The memory of the soldier boy

Who bravely fought and died

We fully admire the principle

For which he gave his life

And died for the cause of freedom

In this bloody and deadly strife

He was one of the many who fought to uphold

The traditions of the British race

And now he is sleeping the sleep of a hero

Some other will take his place

In distant lands so far away

They are heroes one and all

Who freely give their life’s blood

At their country’s call

And when the strife is over

And the men return once more

May we uphold the principles

They fought for in this war

(S G McDonald. Originally written 1st August 1916)

000000000000000000

Reminiscences of the Past

November28th 1916. S G McD.

You remember the days of our childhood

When we were free from all troubles and care

When we tramped through the scrub and the wildwood

And hunted the rabbit, the rat and the hare

We chased them o’er hills and through valleys

With never a thought for the blisters or pain

Which was caused by the stones and the thistles

Bruising and scratching our feet again and again

We have shared each joy and each pleasure

We have fought and been friends all in one

Ah it gives me great pleasure to remember

The joys and the times that are gone

You remember the fight in the cowyard

Over a question on which we could not agree

When Mother stepped in with a Quince stick

And decided to act referee

0000000000000000000

8th December 1916. S G McD

Behold Australia rallies to

The standard of the free

To fight for Britain’s honour

And defend our liberty

Fight on, fight on Australia’s sons

May we be ever free

‘Twere better to die before the guns

Than to Germany bend the knee

Your heroic deeds we will cherish

‘Mongst the bravest of the brave

That we may never perish

You have sought in a hero’s grave

You have nobly upheld the traditions

Of the race from which we came

In the annals of our history

You have carved a glorious name

May Australia recompense you

For the deeds that you have done

And from hunger and poverty guard you

When the victory is won

You are worthy of a better fate

Than to beg upon the street

And may vengeance overtake us

If the past we should repeat

So please accept these verses

From my humble pen

To you I raise my hat with honour

You have fought and died like men

May good luck always attend you

Wherever you may go

May God’s loving hand defend you

When you face the foe

Farewell

000000000000000000

(Undated)

Well old fellow, glad to see you, fancy meeting you around!

Aint it luck to come across you in a transport homeward bound

Guess a liner couldn’t travel fast enough for me you know

Don’t you think she simply dawdles, aint the engines running slow

France is just a bit unhealthy when the shells are bursting near

While the vicious German bullets come a-whizzing past your ear!

When the squelchy trenches gather all the mud in Sunny France

And you leave your boots behind you as you struggle to advance

Someone will be glad to see me when we reach the other side

Somebody will run to meet me with a smile of loving pride

How her eyes will shine and sparkle like the sunshine on the sea

And her lips will give the message that they always hold for me

(Bless her heart) she’s worth the hardships, worth the danger and the pain

When there’s one who waits and watches till my ship returns again

That is land before us surely? We are heading for it fast

Look man, Look! It’s England – England! We are home again at last.

____________ .. __________ .. ____________

[Transcribed SCG 15 June 2008]


Stanley Challenger Graham




Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk

Author Replies  
Callunna
Revolving Grey Blob


3044 Posts
Posted - 15/06/2008 : 16:47
A lovely read. 

How would human beings cope without the ability to express their feelings through poetry?

Sometimes a simple poem tells us much more about real life than a weighty historical tome.Go to Top of Page
Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart


36804 Posts
Posted - 16/06/2008 : 07:41
I agree H.  You can see so many threads in what he wrote, volunteers who couldn't see the need for conscription, apprehension about whether it would be a better world when they got home and perhaps mosr striking, the way Uncle Stan regarded himself as British.  Quite a wurprise for me when I read the one about going home on the liner and it turned out to be England!  Another little brick in the wall of my understanding of the bloke I was named after......


Stanley Challenger Graham




Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk Go to Top of Page
Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart


36804 Posts
Posted - 16/06/2008 : 10:41
I made a slight edit which came out in the wrong font.....  Coral McDonald says that she thinks Charles Bourke was Uncle Stan's brother in law as Alan, her husband, had a cousin with the same name who was killed fighting the Japanese in WW2.


Stanley Challenger Graham




Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk Go to Top of Page
belle
VIP Member


6502 Posts
Posted - 17/06/2008 : 10:32
I liked the last one best, but they are all very readable, it seems poetry is often born of hardship.


Life is what you make itGo to Top of Page
Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart


36804 Posts
Posted - 17/06/2008 : 17:42
Funny thing is it was England.  I would have thought he'd have saved his rejoicing for getting back to Oz.  Shows how much they identified with the old country....


Stanley Challenger Graham




Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk Go to Top of Page


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