[00:54.631]It was just before dawn
[00:58.061]One miserable morning in black 'forty four.
[01:05.058]When the forward commander
[01:07.893]Was told to sit tight
[01:10.262]When he asked that his men be withdrawn.
[01:16.042]And the Generals gave thanks
[01:20.363]As the other ranks held back
[01:24.283]The enemy tanks for a while.
[01:28.033]And the Anzio bridgehead
[01:30.110]Was held for the price
[01:32.941]Of a few hundred ordinary lives.
[01:42.634]And old King George
[01:44.405]Sent Mother a note
[01:47.625]When he heard that father was gone.
[01:51.786]It was, I recall,
[01:53.979]In the form of a scroll,
[01:57.000]With gold leaf and all.
[02:02.381]And I found it one day
[02:05.292]In a drawer of old photographs, hidden away.
[02:13.563]And my eyes still grow damp to remember
[02:16.504]His Majesty signed
[02:20.932]With his own rubber stamp.
[02:25.566]It was dark all around.
[02:28.284]There was frost in the ground
[02:30.879]When the tigers broke free.
[02:37.589]And no one survived
[02:40.657]From the Royal Fusiliers Company C.
[02:47.635]They were all left behind,
[02:51.696]Most of them dead,
[02:54.861]The rest of them dying.
[03:00.421]And that's how the High Command
[03:03.600]Took my daddy from me.