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As Rememberance Day/Veterans Day approaches I will offer the following poem by Lieutenant Ewart Alan Mackintosh, M.C. 4th Seaforth Highlanders. Killed in action at the Battle of Cambrai, 21st November...
As Rememberance Day/Veterans Day approaches I will offer the following poem by Lieutenant Ewart Alan Mackintosh, M.C. 4th Seaforth Highlanders. Killed in action at the Battle of Cambrai, 21st November 1917, aged 24.
In Memoriam
So you were David's father, And he was your only son, And the new-cut peats are rotting And the work is left undone, Because of an old man weeping, Just an old man in pain, For David, his son David, That will not come again.
Oh, the letters he wrote you, And I can see them still, Not a word of the fighting But just the sheep on the hill And how you should get the crops in Ere the year got stormier, And the Bosches have got his body, And I was his officer.
You were only David's father, But I had fifty sons When we went up that evening Under the arch of the guns, And we came back at twilight - O God! I heard them call To me for help and pity That could not help at all.
Oh, never will I forget you, My men that trusted me, More my sons than your fathers' For they could only see The little helpless babies And the young men in their pride. They could not see you dying And hold you while you died.
Happy and young and gallant, they saw their first born go, But not the strong limbs broken And the beautiful men brought low, The piteous writhing bodies, They screamed, "Don't leave me Sir," For they were only fathers But I was your officer.
From accompaning notes on the website... The young soldier who died was Pvt. David Sutherland who was wounded in the German trenches on May 16, 1916. Lieutenant Mackintosh carried the wounded soldier through 100 yards of enemy lines on the way back, with the Germans in pursuit, it was only when David died that his body was left behind. Though failing to save the young soldier Lt. Mackintosh was decorated for gallantry for the attempt. Mackintosh turned down the chance to return to Britain as an instructor in order to remain with his men. He was also awarded the Military Cross at the Somme.