Oh to be in england
To sip sweet draughts of beer
Instead I am on foreign soil
Why did I volunteer?
Huddled in the mud and wet
My greatcoat smells of mould
No acts of valour pass my mind
A friend lays nearby cold
I clutch my rifle to my chest
As shells scream overhead
My hands shake uncontrollably
My mind is filled with dread
Duty calls, must do my bit
Just words so long ago
This nightmare now upon us
Await the whistle blow
And then it comes, we all react
As one into the fray
Charging down the jaws of death
All hero's on the day
Blood and water mix as one
On a landscape made in hell
And only those to survive the day
A story yet to tell
Comrades names, now etched in stone
A memory to the slain
Please God our children live in peace
They did not die in vain.
Graham Jones
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/all-hero-s-on-the-day/
