Voices of Silence (19 page)

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Authors: Vivien Noakes

BOOK: Voices of Silence
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is the Navy that’s tied to the shore,
They’ve lashings of beer, and provisions galore,
How I wish I had joined as a sailor before
I came out to Mesopotamia.
are the orders we get from the Corps,
Thank goodness by now we are perfectly sure
If issued at three they’ll be cancelled by four –
In this land of Mesopotamia.
are the Postal officials who fail
To deliver each week more than half of our mail;
If they had their deserts they’d all be in jail
Instead of in Mesopotamia.
’s the Quinine which we take every day
To keep the Malarial fever away,
Which we’re bound to get sooner or later, they say,
If we stop here in Mesopotamia.
’s for the Rations they give us to eat,
For brekker there’s biscuits, for dinner there’s meat,
And if we’ve been good we get jam as a treat
For our tea in Mesopotamia.
are supposed to supply
The Army with food, we all hope when they die
They will go to a spot as hot and as dry
As this rotten old Mesopotamia.
is the Lake know as Um-el-Brahm
Which guards our left flank from all possible harm,
And waters old G——s barley farm
In the middle of Mesopotamia.
is the Victory won at Dijailah,
I heard it first from a pal who’s a sailor
Who read it in Reuter on board his Mahola
On the Tigris in Mesopotamia.
stands for Wonder and pain
With which we regard the infirm and insane
Old *…… …….. … ….. this campaign
We’re waging in Mesopotamia.
[* C
ENSORED
– E
D
.]
are the ’Xtras the Corps say we get,
But so far there isn’t a unit I’ve met
That has drawn a single one of them yet
Since they landed in Mesopotamia.
is the Yearning we feel every day
For a passage to Basrah, and so to Bombay;
If we get there we’ll see that we stop right away
From this wilderness Mesopotamia.
I’ve tried very hand, and at last I had hit
On a verse which this damnable letter would fit,
But the Censor deleted it – every bit
Save the last word ‘Mesopotamia.’
 
Chahels is really a horrible spot
Where there isn’t a drop of drink to be got,
Yet here we’re going to be left till we rot
In the Middle of Mesopotamia.

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