For those Englishmen who now only think of Aussies as serious sporting opponents, I would like to illustrate an aspect of earlier life. It is hard for me to believe that your Government has seen fit to declare us alien when you look at these sentiments - and indeed the consequences. Both young men had only recently left school - Scotch College, Melbourne. Australia's top scoring pilot of WWI, Robert Little, also left this school to go directly to war. He failed to return.
For England
The bugles of England were blowing o'er the sea,
As they had called a thousand years, calling now to me;
They woke me from dreaming in the dawning of the day,
The bugles of England - and how I could stay.
The banners of England, unfurled across the sea,
Floating out upon the wind, were beckoning to me,
Storm-rent and battle-torn, smoke stained and grey,
The banners of England - and how could I stay?
O England! I heard the cry of those that died for thee,
Sounding like an organ voice across the winter sea;
They lived and died for England, and gladly went their way,
O England! O England! how could I stay?
-J. D. BURNS, May 1915
James Drummond Burns, died 18 September 1915, buried in Shrapnel Valley at Gallipoli. He never did see England.
Boyd Cunninghame Campbell Thomson is buried at Flers in France. He wrote:
To The Mother School
Mother, thy blessing! the time has come
To follow the rest of thy stalwart sons
Forth, to the sound of the rolling drum,
So soon to be lost in the roar of guns,
Where the banner of Britain to glory runs.
Mother, thy blessing! the time has come.
Mother, thy blessing! before we go,
Leaving all that is dear to heart,
Love of the home and the fireside glow,
Love of music and delicate art -
With these and more it is hard to part;
Mother, thy blessing! before we go.
Mother, thy blessing! for life was sweet,
Sweet with the love of a thousand things,
And every hour that sped so fleet
Flung a flood of joy, as the morning flings
The light of life from its radiant wings.
Mother, thy blessing! before we go.
Mother, thy blessing! we want for thee,
"Twas little to give, but much to lose;
But how could we think of thee else than free,
While supple of sinews and strong of thews?
How could we falter, or worse - refuse?
Mother, thy blessing! we want for thee.
Mother!, our brothers have gone before;
They call - they call us to join the fray,
And shadows of faces that are no more,
The faces we loved so, cold and grey,
Cry loud for vengeance; how can we stay?
Mother!, our brothers have gone before.
Mother! Thy blessing! and then good-bye!
While you wish for your sons a happier aim
Than that a man go forth to die
For a faith that is more than an empty name,
For a faith that burns like a scorching flame,
Mother! Thy blessing! and so good-bye!
August, 1915
And for what it is worth, this day at the school a new scholarship was instituted to commemorate Hugh Syme, GC GM and Bar.
Lest We Forget