Fifteen at the fourteen eighteen

It was 1914

And the start of the greatest war the world has ever seen

I wanted to go

But I was only fifteen

And those who were recruited were at least seventeen

So I lied about my age so that I could enlist

My country was at war

And I didn’t want to miss

We were going to win and shout out loud

We were British and we were proud

The reality hit me when I got to the trench

But I withstood the cold and the terrible stench

I was a working class boy who’d had many spats

So it was no big deal that I had to eat rats

But then one day an order came through

And I saw fear in my comrades and watched some of them spew

The sergeant began to bark, “Hop, hop, hop!”

And then informed us that we were going over the top

My nerves were jangled

My head was in a whirl

I was just a young boy who’d never kissed a girl

Goodbye father

Goodbye mother

Goodbye sister and older brother

The order was clear and there was no point in defying

And as we went over I heard the screams of those dying

But  in my heart I knew that the Gerries were crying

There must have been some sentiment after yesterday’s game of ball

But they were just obeying orders

After all