OLD MIRFIELD DAYS - Mirfield - A Second Look

SOLDIER BOY
He fought for the German,
He fought for the Jew.
He sailed in the Hell ship "The Lisbon Mam".
He'd be sixteen, eighteen, twenty-one,
Aye, maybe twenty-two.
A lad from our village, whom we knew well,
Was called to join the man-made Hell.
He kissed his mother,
And he said "Good-Bye",
On a beautiful Summer's night.
Hew as going to the war to end war,
To help the oppressed gain their rights.
The hot Summer months sped quickly by,
In a pattern that millions knew well.
He was trained to kill, or to be killed,
In a war that was surely Hell.
Brown Autumn came.
Nature's sweet, mellow time.
Then, suddenly one morning,
Bold Winter's first frosty rime.
His training was over, the end was night,
The ways he'd been taught to make the other lad die.
"Us yer bayonet, lads" the Sergeant cried,
"In", "Out", "On Guard", "Long Point",
"Short Point", "And Jab".
"Aye, that's the way" the Sergeant cried,
As he laughed and ranted on.
"Aye, that's the way, mi bonny lads,
To use the Gelding Iron".
And the other lad died,
And his mother cried.
And the Sergeant shouted, as he laughed and ranted on.
"Aye, that's the way, mi bonny lads,
To use that Gelding Iron".
And the other lad died,
And his mother cried.
33
F. G. PILLING.