When The Tigers Broke Free

1. It was just before dawn one miserable

morning in black forty-four..

When the forward commander was told to sit tight..

When asked that his men be withdrawn..

And the generals gave thanks as the other ranks

held be the enemy tanks - for a while..

And then the Anzio bridgehead was held for the price

of a few hundred ordinary lives..

2. And kind old King George sent mother

a note when he heard that father was gone..

It was, as I recall, in the form of a scroll

with golden leaf and ,all..

And I found it one day

in a drawer of old photographs hidden away..

And my eyes still grow damp to remember

his Majesty signed with his own rubber stamp..

3. It was dark all around..

There was frost in the ground

when the Tigers broke free..

And noone survived from the Royal Fusiliers Company C..

They were all left behind..

Most of them dead..

The rest of them dying..

And that's how the High Command took my Daddy

from me....