THE BALLAD OF YPRES. 212 Thb Ypres Times. By BEATRIX BRICE. The following verses have been written for the Ypres League with the idea that they may be useful for recitation at re-unions, entertainments, etc. They put the meaning of Ypres in a guise that we hope will rouse enthusiasm in an audience that is perhaps not keen on speeches! A martial accompaniment on the piano would add to the effect. Can anyone compose one Chorus Wipers! Wipers! Sere's to you Wipers. Here's to the pals who kept you free! Non-Coms, troopers, drivers and gunners, Sappers, privates, riders and runners, Brass hats, tin hats, ranker or swell, Officers whom we would follow through Hell. Here's to you Wipers 1 the Boche never got at you Here's to you comrades, the whole dashed lot of you. Now silence. Here's to the missing friend Carry on, carry on, till we meet at the end. An Army went to battle in the year '14, It was very small in numbers, but the finest ever seen It met the German Army in the hour of its might When the Kaiser mocked our Forces, for the odds were out of sight. But they fought him to a standstill with each man, and shell, and gun, Strained out beyond the utmost, the impossible was done. Nearly all were killed or wounded, but there still remained a few Made a barrier of their bodies, and the Boche could not get through. And they slammed the Gate to Wipers No farther do you go! And the Boche was held at Wipers, and he stayed just so. Next, having proved that man for man the British fighter won, The German launched a poison cloud, and watched to see him run. With flanks in air, and choked with gas, of faltering no sign. But back to back with Canada, our comrades held the line. And all the while the Army grew, for touch the bulldog race, And every brand of Britain learns to drill and shoot apace And far and fast the boys rolled up, all mad to lend a hand, From every distant Colony to back the Mother Land, And they blocked the way at Wipers No farther do you got" And the Boche was held at Wipers, and he stayed just so. In 'seventeen the Brass Hats decided on a show. The place was getting crowded, and the Boche had got to go So they pushed him good and hearty, though he'd fortified the ground, Where pill-boxes in hundreds hid machine gun round on round. And e'en the powers of Nature seemed to hamper the attack, For the rain drowned some in shell holes, and the bog dragged others back. But they faced the stream of fire, while they struggled thro' the flood Till they seized the Ridge in triumph, and dug in above the mud. They pushed him back at Wipers No farther do you go! The Boche was held at Wipers, and he stayed just so. And still the battle lasted, for the Kaiser set his heart On being crowned in Wipers, and he meant it from the start. He hurled throughout the struggle every weapon that he'd got, So first and last the Salient was a most unhealthy spot. Bnt the soldier holding Wipers was compact of pluck and grit, In mud, and blood, and anguish, he was there to do his bit. He stuck it to the finishthough before the final round, A quarter of a million men had died to hold the ground. Oh, Holy Ground of Wipers! Oh, glory of our Race, You stand for all we'll live for, may Heaven grant us grace. Chorus Wiper, Wipers! etc.

HISTORISCHE KRANTEN

The Ypres Times (1921-1936) | 1925 | | pagina 18