24/04/2024
Lest we Forget
Newcastle Station 1916
We were here before you, do you know, to this railway station we were drawn
Before your mothers father was even considered to be born
People were pressed against each other on the platforms, that beautiful autumn dawn
Though silent they now stand, we had the excitement of a band and
In our uniforms our ladies thought us grand
We were the boys of Newy’s Own, the 35th, Jewellers, clerks, farmers, many of us miners, ready to lend a hand
in some far off foreign land
We loved the water as you do now,
Whether by the surf, the lake or river, they were ours, as they’re yours for now
In them we worked and played, and as we competed “by George”, we played it hard and a bit too bloody loud.
We marched upon that train alive and full of life
We caught our final glimpse of a father, mother, daughter wife
As sadness fell, It was then, for some, and not their last, their hearts would feel the cold sharp blade of steel like a bayonets bloody knife
And then our bodies and our souls
Disappeared leaving the platforms all but quiet
Leaving our town, some forever, but buoyed and ready for a fight
Our town was full of aching that first and mournful night
They took us off to Holsworthy we were lucky to get a tent
There they trained us until we thought the Sargent horrible and bent
He drove us until our bodies they were all but bloody spent
The weeks they mounted until we the 1,330 of the 35th on the Benalla set to sea
We’d heard the stories coming back from Gallipoli
But had no idea of how cruel a war could be
Four months more training was ahead on the dismal British Isle
It was late November when we crossed the Channel, it was there we lost our smile
For Winter froze the Belgium trenches in which we had to file
Messines was our first then Passchendaele did follow
That victory seemed so hollow
Painful, Bitter sweet, and hard to swallow
For when the whistle blew its horrible bloody sound
The 35th, Newys Own, we had to gather round
508 of us were up and over, we fought the muddy ground
And when the battle ground was quiet only 90 of us could gather round, some never to be found
We were there at Villers Brentonneux, plugged the gap at Hangard Wood
Fought all night, as death fell upon us where we stood
But we stopped the enemies advance and stopped it there for good
We fought until the bitter end
You’ll find us where we last did stand
In a Flanders field where the poppies sway and bend
You’ll find us In the soil of these far off foreign lands
581 of us no longer walked upon the station
No longer walked our streets
We never got to see those special orange dawns or feel the sand beneath our feet
So when you walk upon our platform, or wander about our beach or gather beneath our stations awning
Remember our souls that faded
That disappeared on boarding
Take a moment, think, of what we gave to you, on our last Newcastle morning.
stevefromnewy - Lest we Forget
