July 1st. 1916 Training -John Scott
The Bullring! Where we did �Intensive Training� that`s the stuff
To give the troops [or so they said] to make us youngsters tough
And there to scare the Bosche, they had us yelling ourselves hoarse
In mock attacks on trenches [which we always took, of course]
Then bayonet drill, �In! Out! On guard! Long point! Short point! Jab!
Now use the butt!� then we�d fall out and calmly smoke a tab!
With scarce a thought that we�d have one day, for a target, human lives,
Aye, chaps like us, who�d left at home, Mothers, Sweethearts, Wives.
And as we rested there the time would all too quickly pass,
While we idly watched the insects a-scurrying through the grass.
I never saw so many - perhaps we envied them that day-
No one to order them about- going their own sweet way.
Back in camp for dinner - there�s a scene I still recall;
Five hundred hungry soldiers in that wooden dining-hall,
All clattering with knife handles, aye, hammering their way through
Five hundred army biscuits to enrich the army stew.
The day�s work done, time on our hands, [for we hadn�t yet grown lousy]
Some squatted down outside the tents for a game of �Housey - housey�
The bolder spirits ventured to approach the �Orderly Sarge�
For passes to explore the spice of life in Paris plage.
While the �good � lads went to the old YM. or maybe the EFC,
Canteens galore to choose from for a cake or a cup of tea.
And while serving fruit and custard, boiled eggs and sausage rolls,
Salvation Army folks were there a - praying for our souls!!
Where�s Etaples now - a sandy waste? I neither know nor care,
I know it wouldn�t look the same to me if I were there.
In memory the place exists, exactly as before -
Those sights - those sounds and smells unchanged, as in the days of yore.
The lads we left on Flanders fields escaped life�s toils and tears
While we are growing older with the passing of the years.
Still we see ourselves as we used to be [you know I speak the truth]
Not grey - headed blighters like you and me, But Youth! Glorious Youth!
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