Poem - Anonymous

There are several versions of this song. I believe it was originally an English song and the Anzacs decided to make their own version. The first stanza is the famous one. While it has an element of patriotism about it, the song also has a strong element of boredom, which was often the daily meal of the soldier. This boredom lead to a wonderful Australian trench-song which goes as follows: ‘We’re here because we’re here, because we’re here because we’re here.’ What follows now is an anonymous song, sung by most Australians at one time or another.

The Ragtime Army

We are the Ragtime Army

The A-N-Z-A-C,

We cannot shoot, we won’t salute,

What bloody good are we?

And when we get to Berlin,

The Kaiser he will say,

‘Hoch! Hoch! Mein Gott!’

What a bloody rotten lot

To get six bob a day.

We are the only heroes

Who stormed the Dardanelles,

And when we get to Berlin

They’ll say, ‘What bloody sells’.

You boast and skite from morn to night

And think you’re very brave,

But the men who really did the job

Are dead and in their graves.