Our Heroes
By L. Chaplin.
Come, all you bold Australian boys,
And list to what I say,
Of Australia's sons and Britons
Who fell in that awful fray.
True types of fine young manhood,
Tall and big and straight.
The 25th of April, boys,
You won't forget that date.
When Australia's sons made history
Amid those screeching shells,
That fateful April landing
On the shores of the Dardanelles.
Our true and gallant heroes,
Rushed those awful heights,
For the cause of Truth and Liberty
And our Empire's noble rights.
If those rugged rocks of Gallipoli,
The tale could only tell,
Of how those heroes perished
In that awful fire of hell.
Where rugged rocks and ledges
Hang o'er those battle scenes ;
Our heroes lie in slumber,
Down in those deep ravines.
Of England and Australia,
The Scots and Irish, too,
New Zealanders and Canadians,
'Neath the Red, White and Blue.
Their eyes are closed in slumber
Everlasting by the shore.
That gallant fifty thousand.
Went down to rise no more.
Sleep on, heroes, sleep.
You answered to the call,
The call to King and Country.
You gave your lives, your all.
Notes
From the Victorian newspaper the Myrtleford Mail and Whorouly Witness Thursday 12 October 1916 p. 4.
We know that this ballad was written to support the pro-conscription campaign in 1916 as it is placed above an article urging readers to vote yes in the impending referendum. See also an earlier ballad, "On The Shores Of The Dardanelles", by this author.