In a foreign field he lay lonely soldier unknown grave on his dying words he prays tell the world of Paschendale Relive all that he's been through
last communion of his soul rust your bullets with his tears
let me tell you 'bout his years Laying low in a blood filled trench
killing time 'til my very own death on my face I can feel the fallin' rain
never see my friends again in the smoke in the mud and lead
the smell of fear and the feeling of dread soon be time to go over the wall
rapid fire and the end of us all
Whistles, shouts and more gun-fire lifeless bodies hang on barbed wire
battlefield nothing but a bloody tomb be reunited with my dead friends soon many soldiers eighteen years drowned in mud, no more tears
surely a war no one can win killing time about to begin
Home, far away. From the war, a chance to live again
Home, far away. But the war, no chance to live again
The bodies of ours and our foes the sea of death it overflows
in no-man's land God only knows into jaws of death we go...
Crucified as if on a cross allied troops, they mourn their loss
German war propaganda machine such before has never been seen
swear I heard the angels cry pray to God no more may die
so that people know the truth tell the tale of Paschendale
Cruelty has a human heart every man does play his part
terror of the men we kill the human heart is hungry still
I stand my ground for the very last time gun is ready as I stand in line
nervous wait for the whistle to blow rush of blood and over we go...
Blood is falling like the rain its crimson cloak unveils again
the sound of guns can't hide their shame and so we die in Paschendale
Dodging shrapnel and barbed wire running straight at canon fire
running blind as I hold my breath say a prayer symphony of death
as we charge the enemy lines a burst of fire and we go down
I choke I cry but no one hears feel the blood go down my throat
Home, far away. From the war, a chance to live again
Home, far away. But the war, no chance to live again
See my spirit on the wind across the lines beyond the hill
friend and foe will meet again those who died at Paschendale
This song is based on a soldier's view of the Battle of Passchendaele, one of the major battles of World War I, fought by ANZAC, British and Canadian forces versus the German defenders. (songfacts)
The Battle of Passchendaele was a campaign of the First World War, taking place between July and November 1917. In a series of operations, Entente armies under British command attacked the Imperial German Army. The battles were fought for control of the ridge and village of Passchendaele near the city of Ypres in West Flanders, Belgium.
The British intention was to wear out the German army with a quick succession of broad-front attacks moving short distances into the German defences, eventually to force the German army into a general withdrawal, then to advance on the Belgian coast and connect with the Dutch frontier. The British commander Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig anticipated a campaign in three parts: the capture of Passchendaele Ridge, an advance on Roulers and then Operation Hush, an attack along the Belgian coast from Nieuportcombined with an amphibious landing. The offensive also served to distract the German army from the French armies on theAisne, which were debilitated by mutinies in the aftermath of the Nivelle Offensive. The German Army fought to contain the British attacks using large amounts of artillery fire and many infantry counter-attacks, trying to keep control of the higher ground around Ypres which they had held since 1915.
Much of the fighting took place in unusually wet weather, which turned parts of the battlefield into a sea of mud churned by shell-fire yet at others, particularly in September the weather was hot and dry enough for men to wear shorts. The campaign ended in November when the British army captured Passchendaele village and part of the ridge. The British advance beyond the ridge to Roulers and the linked coastal operation did not take place and the German army managed to avoid a general withdrawal, which had seemed inevitable to them in October. The campaign is controversial; in a German General Staff publication of 1927 Theodor Jochim, first head of the Reichsarchiv's documents section wrote: "Germany had been brought near to certain destruction by the Flanders battle of 1917." in contrast, in his memoirs of 1938 Lloyd George wrote, "Passchendaele was indeed one of the greatest disasters of the war.... No soldier of any intelligence now defends this senseless campaign....". In 2008 J. P. Harris condemned Haig and the offensive, "For the troops taking part, however, some phases of Third Ypres had a quality more nightmarish than anything previously experienced. (wikipedia)
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