Poetry from Gallipoli

Sunday 24th October 1915: We have received the following piece of poetry from a former Bedfordshire Yeoman, who transferred to the East Anglian Royal Engineers and has served in Gallipoli.

I stood on the deck of a troopship,

At the Gate of the Dardanelles,

‘Midst the thunder of warship’s cannon,

And the bursting of giant shells.

When men were dying in Britain’s cause,

To open the Sultan’s door.

Shrapnel, rifle and machine gun fire,

Raising a living hell on shore,

I thought of those men who were fighting,

Three thousand miles from home,

Shoulder to shoulder with Australia’s sons,

The clerk and the rolling stone,

Ghurkhas, Sikhs and Lancers.

From India’s sunny clime,

All had left their near and dear

For a place in the firing line.

Each one had answered the Empire’s call,

Each one doing his bit,

While thousands of men were rusting at home,

Equally strong and fit.

Could they but know, could they but see,

The soldier and the tar

Working together as Britons should,

In the fighting at Seddal Bahr(1),

They would throw their aprons to the girls,

Give up their games of whist,

And sing the Tipperary song,

As they scrambled to enlist.

There’s Achi Baba yet to take(2),

And the forts around Chanak(3),

These positions must be won,

There must be no holding back.

We want more men and still more men,

Before this can be done.

Do they realise the fact?

Will they ever come?

I’m only a British sailor man,

But I put it to them straight

Enter Kitchener’s Army ere it is too late.

Ere the butt of an enemy’s rifle

Comes crashing through your door

And the blood of innocent children

Stains the kitchen floor.

Tell them you are coming.

Tom, Dick and Harry too.

Shoulder to shoulder, hand in hand

To pull the Empire through

Source: Bedfordshire Times 29th October 1915

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(1) Sedd el Bahr was a landing beach in the Gallipoli campaign

(2) Achi Baba was the mountain dominating the Gallipoli peninsula; it never fell to the allies despite four attempts

(3) A major port city on the Asian mainland opposite the peninsula, again not taken by the allies.