Dear God, that nightmare road!
And then that sea! We got there... We were men.
My eyes were blind, my feet were torn,
My soul sang like a bird at dawn!
I know that death is but a door,
I knew what we were fighting for;
Peace for the kids, our brothers freed,
A kinder world, a cleaner breed.
I’m but a son my mother bore,
A simple man, and nothing more,
But, God of strength and gentleness,
Be pleased to make me nothing less.
Help me, O God, when death is near,
To mock the haggard face of fear,
That when I fall — if fall I must —
My soul may triumph in the dust.
Anon
(AWM PR 00392)
* * *
Bomber’s Prayer
Under the shadow of thy wings
Protect us Lord,
Thou Master of all living things
Extend thy might
And guard us as we fly
The long bleak stretches of the night,
Protagonists of law
And immemorial right.
And from the hunter’s snare
Deliver us
The high flung nets of light
The shrapnel’s ugly spite
The lurking kite
And peril instant everywhere.
If errand done,
With pinions maimed and crew spent
There rests
No hope to reach the kindly nests
Where blithely sings
The guardian sea about our island home,
O gather us yet closer, Lord
Content
Beneath the shadow of thy saving wings.
Chaplain D. Trathen
(AWM PR 00218)
* * *
A Soldier’s Prayer
Our Father, which art in Heaven, hear my prayer;
Death strikes all around me everywhere.
Give me the strength temptation’s power to baulk,
That I may honoured be where’er I walk.
If upon me the grim hand should be laid,
Give me the strength to take it undismayed.
Bless thou my country’s cause, defend the king,
And to my dear ones peace and solace bring;
Grant us each day a place among the brave,
And, if I fall, new life beyond the grave.
Amen
Anon
* * *
“Casting All Your Care Upon Him, for He Careth for You”.
1 Peter 5–7
Have you ever felt disheartened with the turmoil and the strife,
That surrounds you as you journey on your way?
Have you ever thought the load you carry, more than you can bear
As you tread along the weary road called life?
Have you ever felt the burden of your troubles and your cares
To get greater as each weary day goes by?
As you in your weariness, despondent sigh?
Have you ever felt the need of one in whom you could confide,
Who would help you, share your burdens and your woe?
Who would guide you o’er the roughest road,
And give you cheer and comfort as you go.
Have you ever looked to Jesus, who will all your burdens take?
Who said, “Come and cast upon Me all your care”?
For through life He will sustain you, for He careth much for you
And He’ll never ever leave you nor forsake.
He will give you strength and comfort, He will give you joy and peace,
He will be a present help in time of need,
And when this life is over, and you leave this vale of tears,
He will still be with you in Eternity.
W. J. Baker
Canungra
6 July1944
* * *
A Mother’s Prayer for Her Son
As Thou didst walk the lanes of Galilee,
So loving Saviour, walk with him for me,
For since the years have passed and he is grown,
I cannot follow — he must walk alone.
Be Thou my feet that I have had to stay,
For Thou canst comrade him on every way;
Be Thou my voice when sinful things allure,
Pleading with him to choose those that endure.
Be Thou my hand that would keep his in mine,
And all things else that mothers must resign;
When he was little, I would walk and guide,
But now I pray that Thou be at his side,
And as the Blessed Mother folded Thee,
So kind and loving Saviour,
fold my dear son for me.
Anon
* * *
A Soldier’s Prayer
Oh, Lord, our Father, up on high
Harken to this soldier’s cry!
As on bended knee I pray
For loved ones far away.
Bless my mother sweet and fair,
My love for her none can compare,
Guide and guard her every way,
Keep her safe from day to day.
To my father give solace,
May his name I ne’er disgrace,
In years gone by he did his part,
May I but have his fighting heart.
To sisters all, and brothers too.
Give thy guidance strong and true;
In this hour of toil and strife
Teach them tolerance, love of life.
To each true and loyal friend
Thine understanding, love, please lend,
And each comrade at my side
Through this turmoil safely guide.
Oh, Lord, our father up on high
Harken to my feeble cry!
To this struggle bring surcease
Grant us everlasting peace.
Lord, our Father, in your keeping
I leave them all, at work or sleeping;
Grant to me, Oh Lord, I ask,
The strength to do my chosen task!
Cpl R Lawrence (?)
(AWM PR 00392)
* * *
Almighty and all-present power
Short is the prayer I make thee,
I do not ask in battle hour
For shield to cover me.
The vast unalterable way
From which the stars do not depart
May not be turned aside today
The bullet flying to my heart.
I ask no help to strike my foe,
I seek no petty victory here;
The enemy I hate, I know
To thee is also dear.
But this I pray: Be at my side
When death is drawing through the sky,
Almighty God who also died
Teach the way that I should die.
Anon
Milne Bay
* * *
The Captives’ Hymn
Father, in captivity
We would lift our prayer to Thee,
Keep us ever in Thy love,
Grant that daily we may prove
Those who place their trust in Thee
More than conquerors may be.
May the day of freedom dawn,
Peace and Justice be reborn.
Grant that nations, loving Thee,
O’er the world may brothers be,
Cleansed by suffering, know rebirth,
See Thy kingdom come on earth.
Anon
Ranks & Glossary
MILITARY RANKS
Bdr: Bombardier
Capt.: Captain
CO: Commanding Officer
Cpl: Corporal
CQ: (Short for CQMS - Company Quarter Master Sergeant)
Dvr: Driver
Ft/Lt: Flight Lieutenant
FO: Flying Officer
Gnr: Gunner
L/Cpl: Lance Corporal
Lieut Col: Lieutenant Colonel
Lt: Lieutenant
L/Sig: Lance Signaler
Maj: Major
Pte: Private
RSM: Regimental Sergeant Major
Sgt: Sergeant
Tpr: Trooper
WO: Warrant Officer
* * *
GLOSSARY
Note: the compilers of ‘The Happy Warrior’ would welcome further information regarding the terms listed below, or in relation to other terms mentioned in the book. Such information would be included in future editions.
AASC: Australian Army Service Corps
ack-ack: Anti-Aircraft guns (slang)
AEME: Australian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
AIF: Australian Infantry Forces
AOs: Admin Officers or Admin Orders or Area of Operations depending on context.
AWM: Australian War Memorial
Aust. Gen. Trans. Coy: Australian General Transport Company
Batt.: Battalion
Bangalores: An explosive device used to clear obstacles
Beast: Cannot find specific reference indicating anything other than savage animal
bint: A girl or any female (slang)
blighty: England – “to cop a blighty” – to be injured seriously enough to warrant being returned to England for hospitalisation or rehabilitation
boobies : Booby traps
Brens: A type of machine gun (British)
Brownings: A type of machine gun (British)
bumble: (v) to stumble around ineptly, (n) an inept person
CAP: A type of toxic gas
Caribou: A type of military aircraft
chocos: Reservists
Claymores: a type of mine
CTO: believed to be a form of leave or time-off
DME: thought to be Department of Maintenance Engineering
Foux: thought to be slang for Focke (?) or Fokker aircraft
HE: High Explosive
hicks: Locals
HQ: Headquarters
Hun: Germans
Itie: Italians
Jap: Japanese
Jerry: Germans
Kitties: Kitty Hawk aircraft
LO: Liaison Officer
Mungaree: generic term for food - from middle-eastern (possibly arabic) expression
NEI: Netherlands East Indies
Number Nine: Form of medication - may have been a laxative or placebo.
OC: Officer Commanding
OPSO: Operations Officer
Pippers: Young or junior, Officers
P40: A type of aircraft
P51: A fighter aircraft (Mustang, United States)
QX man: A Queenslander — soldiers who joined up in Queensland had QX as a prefix to their regimental numbers
RAF: Royal Air Force (Britain)
RSL: Returned and Servicemen’s League
Stuka: German Bomber Aircraft
Tommies: British Soldiers (slang)
UXB: Unexploded Bomb
Ulu: In the bush; in the middle of no-where; beyond the black stump.
UNIIMOG: United Nations Iran-Iraq Military Observer Group
Verey candles: Flares
Vickers: A type of machine gun or a type of aircraft depending on context
Wog: person of Mediterranean or Middle Eastern extraction or appearance (slang)
wop: Italian, or person of Italian appearance (slang)
Zero: A Japanese fighter plane
We Shall Keep the Faith
Oh! You who sleep in Flanders’ fields,
Sleep sweet - to rise anew,
We caught the torch you threw,
And holding high we kept
The faith with those who died,
We cherish, too, the Poppy red
That grows on fields where valour led.
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies,
But lends a lustre to the red
Of the flower that blooms above the dead
In Flanders’ fields.
And now the torch and poppy red
Wear in honour of our dead
Fear not that ye have died for naught
We’ve learned the lesson that ye taught
In Flanders’ fields.
An American, Miss Moira Michael, read “In Flanders’ Fields” and wrote “We Shall Keep The Faith” in reply.