Issue NO. 1 Made up one night at a sing song here in Italy. By the fellows of the platoon.
P.S. Hope you like it.
Tommy
Come on you jolly jokers
And join the Service Corps
You’ll see the sort of army life
That you have never seen before
From early in the morning
Till awfully late at night
You will find us always working hard
But never have to fight.
Rations and Ammunitions
Isn’t all we have to haul
For mules and Petrol
We often get a call
The troops we sometimes carry
As they go into the line
They’ll never have to worry
We’ll always be on time.
Early in the morning
Er’e the Div. is off the ground
The boys throw off their blankets and start stirring all around
Out come the dirty old brew pots
And there will be brews galore
We’re in that sort of army
Where good coffee is no more.
We left dear old Canada December 39
And now it’s 1944, we drink Italian wine
We miss Labatts and Black Horse
And OH that Limey beer
All we can get in Vino
In the army over here.
Three and a half years in England
And training all the time
We wondered if the day would come
When we would cross the Rhine
We all felt very happy
As we left in 43
When they told us we were invading
The shores of Sicily.
We drove our trucks off landing craft
To warm Italian sand
As we knew the First Division
Had the Ities well in hand
We drove up from Pachino
To MOUNT ETNAS loft heights
The roads were rough and dusty
We darn’t use any lights.
The Sicilian Campaign over
We started off for Rome
We came ashore at Reggio
First step to Home Sweet Home
Our trucks sure took a beating
As we travelled up the line
We couldn’t fail the Infantry
We had ti be on time.
While we are still in Italy
And the boys have helped take Rome
We think it’s time McKenzie King
Let us invade our home
It’s almost five years over seas
We think we’ve done our share
Conscript that ZOMBIE ARMY
Let us replace them over there.
Found in the papers of Percy Edward Taylor. Used with permission.
Transcribed by: Garna Argenti
29 January 2019
Note: Possibly set to the tune of “Come All Ye Bold Canadians” from the War of 1812.
