[00:59.00]It was just before dawn
[01:02.21]One miserable morning in black 'forty four.
[01:08.75]When the forward commander
[01:11.16]Was told to sit tight
[01:14.88]When he asked that his men be withdrawn.
[01:22.31]And the Generals gave thanks,As the other ranks held back
[01:26.55]The enemy tanks for a while.
[01:32.10]And the Anzio bridgehead
[01:35.38]Was held for the price
[01:37.75]Of a few hundred ordinary lives.
[01:45.90]And old King George
[01:47.30]Sent Mother a note
[01:50.20]When he heard that father was gone.
[01:56.05]It was, I recall,
[01:59.24]In the form of a scroll,
[02:01.26]With gold leaf and all.
[02:06.70]And I found it one day
[02:10.35]In a drawer of old photographs, hidden away.
[02:17.51]And my eyes still grow damp to remember
[02:21.45]His Majesty signed
[02:23.91]With his own rubber stamp.
[02:29.74]It was dark all around.
[02:31.87]There was frost in the ground
[02:35.13]When the tigers broke free.
[02:41.84]And no one survived
[02:43.91]From the Royal Fusiliers Company C.
[02:51.89]They were all left behind,
[02:55.95]Most of them dead,
[02:57.12]The rest of them dying.
[03:03.68]And that's how the High Command
[03:07.86]Took my daddy from me.