Lyrics

Here
By Terry Penney
©2012

I joined up with friends and soon we were sent
To this little place on the coast
A long way from France and the German’s advance
But we soldiered and tended our post
And the birds in the trees and the warm summer’s breeze
And the kind hearted, smiling town folk
All seemed to say, you’re not in harm’s way
You’ve nothing to fear, Here

Newspapers said an accident led
To all that transpired that day
There was dynamite stored at the battery’s core
Sitting there crate upon crate
Then the whole place went up and this little town shook
Like dust we were blown away
Wouldn’t be long ’til word we were gone
Brought heartache and tears, Here

And the preacher and people they gathered
They all hung their heads and they prayed
On that day in June, 1942
They honoured us boys from away

How could we have known, when we left our homes
For this place we were sworn to protect
We’d never again return to our kin
We’d become permanent guests
Of the birds in the trees and the warm summer’s breeze
And you kind hearted, smiling town folk
To lie ‘neath the Earth in this stand of birch
Year after year, Here, Here, Here