The Happy Warrior

by Kerry B Collison

  Dear God, that nightmare road!

  And then that sea! We got there... We were men.

  My eyes were blind, my feet were torn,

  My soul sang like a bird at dawn!

  I know that death is but a door,

  I knew what we were fighting for;

  Peace for the kids, our brothers freed,

  A kinder world, a cleaner breed.

  I’m but a son my mother bore,

  A simple man, and nothing more,

  But, God of strength and gentleness,

  Be pleased to make me nothing less.

  Help me, O God, when death is near,

  To mock the haggard face of fear,

  That when I fall — if fall I must —

  My soul may triumph in the dust.

  Anon

  (AWM PR 00392)

  * * *

  Bomber’s Prayer

  Under the shadow of thy wings

  Protect us Lord,

  Thou Master of all living things

  Extend thy might

  And guard us as we fly

  The long bleak stretches of the night,

  Protagonists of law

  And immemorial right.

  And from the hunter’s snare

  Deliver us

  The high flung nets of light

  The shrapnel’s ugly spite

  The lurking kite

  And peril instant everywhere.

  If errand done,

  With pinions maimed and crew spent

  There rests

  No hope to reach the kindly nests

  Where blithely sings

  The guardian sea about our island home,

  O gather us yet closer, Lord

  Content

  Beneath the shadow of thy saving wings.

  Chaplain D. Trathen

  (AWM PR 00218)

  * * *

  A Soldier’s Prayer

  Our Father, which art in Heaven, hear my prayer;

  Death strikes all around me everywhere.

  Give me the strength temptation’s power to baulk,

  That I may honoured be where’er I walk.

  If upon me the grim hand should be laid,

  Give me the strength to take it undismayed.

  Bless thou my country’s cause, defend the king,

  And to my dear ones peace and solace bring;

  Grant us each day a place among the brave,

  And, if I fall, new life beyond the grave.

  Amen

  Anon

  * * *

  “Casting All Your Care Upon Him, for He Careth for You”.

  1 Peter 5–7

  Have you ever felt disheartened with the turmoil and the strife,

  That surrounds you as you journey on your way?

  Have you ever thought the load you carry, more than you can bear

  As you tread along the weary road called life?

  Have you ever felt the burden of your troubles and your cares

  To get greater as each weary day goes by?

  Or does the road get rougher with each faltering step you take,

  As you in your weariness, despondent sigh?

  Have you ever felt the need of one in whom you could confide,

  Who would help you, share your burdens and your woe?

  Who would guide you o’er the roughest road,

  And give you cheer and comfort as you go.

  Have you ever looked to Jesus, who will all your burdens take?

  Who said, “Come and cast upon Me all your care”?

  For through life He will sustain you, for He careth much for you

  And He’ll never ever leave you nor forsake.

  He will give you strength and comfort, He will give you joy and peace,

  He will be a present help in time of need,

  And when this life is over, and you leave this vale of tears,

  He will still be with you in Eternity.

  W. J. Baker

  Canungra

  6 July1944

  * * *

  A Mother’s Prayer for Her Son

  As Thou didst walk the lanes of Galilee,

  So loving Saviour, walk with him for me,

  For since the years have passed and he is grown,

  I cannot follow — he must walk alone.

  Be Thou my feet that I have had to stay,

  For Thou canst comrade him on every way;

  Be Thou my voice when sinful things allure,

  Pleading with him to choose those that endure.

  Be Thou my hand that would keep his in mine,

  And all things else that mothers must resign;

  When he was little, I would walk and guide,

  But now I pray that Thou be at his side,

  And as the Blessed Mother folded Thee,

  So kind and loving Saviour,

  fold my dear son for me.

  Anon

  * * *

  A Soldier’s Prayer

  Oh, Lord, our Father, up on high

  Harken to this soldier’s cry!

  As on bended knee I pray

  For loved ones far away.

  Bless my mother sweet and fair,

  My love for her none can compare,

  Guide and guard her every way,

  Keep her safe from day to day.

  To my father give solace,

  May his name I ne’er disgrace,

  In years gone by he did his part,

  May I but have his fighting heart.

  To sisters all, and brothers too.

  Give thy guidance strong and true;

  In this hour of toil and strife

  Teach them tolerance, love of life.

  To each true and loyal friend

  Thine understanding, love, please lend,

  And each comrade at my side

  Through this turmoil safely guide.

  Oh, Lord, our father up on high

  Harken to my feeble cry!

  To this struggle bring surcease

  Grant us everlasting peace.

  Lord, our Father, in your keeping

  I leave them all, at work or sleeping;

  Grant to me, Oh Lord, I ask,

  The strength to do my chosen task!

  Cpl R Lawrence (?)

  (AWM PR 00392)

  * * *

  The Airman’s Prayer

  Almighty and all-present power

  Short is the prayer I make thee,

  I do not ask in battle hour

  For shield to cover me.

  The vast unalterable way

  From which the stars do not depart

  May not be turned aside today

  The bullet flying to my heart.

  I ask no help to strike my foe,

  I seek no petty victory here;

  The enemy I hate, I know

  To thee is also dear.

  But this I pray: Be at my side

  When death is drawing through the sky,

  Almighty God who also died

  Teach the way that I should die.

  Anon

  Milne Bay

  * * *

  The Captives’ Hymn

  Father, in captivity

  We would lift our prayer to Thee,

  Keep us ever in Thy love,

  Grant that daily we may prove

  Those who place their trust in Thee

  More than conquerors may be.

  May the day of freedom dawn,

  Peace and Justice be reborn.

  Grant that nations, loving Thee,

  O’er the world may brothers be,

  Cleansed by suffering, know rebirth,

  See Thy kingdom come on earth.

  Anon

  Ranks & Glossary

  MILITARY RANKS

  Bdr: Bombardier

  Capt.: Captain

  CO: Commanding Officer

  Cpl: Corporal

  CQ: (Short for CQMS - Company Quarter Master Sergeant)

  Dvr: Driver

/>   Ft/Lt: Flight Lieutenant

  FO: Flying Officer

  Gnr: Gunner

  L/Cpl: Lance Corporal

  Lieut Col: Lieutenant Colonel

  Lt: Lieutenant

  L/Sig: Lance Signaler

  Maj: Major

  Pte: Private

  RSM: Regimental Sergeant Major

  Sgt: Sergeant

  Tpr: Trooper

  WO: Warrant Officer

  * * *

  GLOSSARY

  Note: the compilers of ‘The Happy Warrior’ would welcome further information regarding the terms listed below, or in relation to other terms mentioned in the book. Such information would be included in future editions.

  AASC: Australian Army Service Corps

  ack-ack: Anti-Aircraft guns (slang)

  AEME: Australian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers

  AIF: Australian Infantry Forces

  AOs: Admin Officers or Admin Orders or Area of Operations depending on context.

  AWM: Australian War Memorial

  Aust. Gen. Trans. Coy: Australian General Transport Company

  Batt.: Battalion

  Bangalores: An explosive device used to clear obstacles

  Beast: Cannot find specific reference indicating anything other than savage animal

  bint: A girl or any female (slang)

  blighty: England – “to cop a blighty” – to be injured seriously enough to warrant being returned to England for hospitalisation or rehabilitation

  boobies : Booby traps

  Brens: A type of machine gun (British)

  Brownings: A type of machine gun (British)

  bumble: (v) to stumble around ineptly, (n) an inept person

  CAP: A type of toxic gas

  Caribou: A type of military aircraft

  chocos: Reservists

  Claymores: a type of mine

  CTO: believed to be a form of leave or time-off

  DME: thought to be Department of Maintenance Engineering

  Foux: thought to be slang for Focke (?) or Fokker aircraft

  HE: High Explosive

  hicks: Locals

  HQ: Headquarters

  Hun: Germans

  Itie: Italians

  Jap: Japanese

  Jerry: Germans

  Kitties: Kitty Hawk aircraft

  LO: Liaison Officer

  Mungaree: generic term for food - from middle-eastern (possibly arabic) expression

  NEI: Netherlands East Indies

  Number Nine: Form of medication - may have been a laxative or placebo.

  OC: Officer Commanding

  OPSO: Operations Officer

  Pippers: Young or junior, Officers

  P40: A type of aircraft

  P51: A fighter aircraft (Mustang, United States)

  QX man: A Queenslander — soldiers who joined up in Queensland had QX as a prefix to their regimental numbers

  RAF: Royal Air Force (Britain)

  RSL: Returned and Servicemen’s League

  Stuka: German Bomber Aircraft

  Tommies: British Soldiers (slang)

  UXB: Unexploded Bomb

  Ulu: In the bush; in the middle of no-where; beyond the black stump.

  UNIIMOG: United Nations Iran-Iraq Military Observer Group

  Verey candles: Flares

  Vickers: A type of machine gun or a type of aircraft depending on context

  Wog: person of Mediterranean or Middle Eastern extraction or appearance (slang)

  wop: Italian, or person of Italian appearance (slang)

  Zero: A Japanese fighter plane

  We Shall Keep the Faith

  Oh! You who sleep in Flanders’ fields,

  Sleep sweet - to rise anew,

  We caught the torch you threw,

  And holding high we kept

  The faith with those who died,

  We cherish, too, the Poppy red

  That grows on fields where valour led.

  It seems to signal to the skies

  That blood of heroes never dies,

  But lends a lustre to the red

  Of the flower that blooms above the dead

  In Flanders’ fields.

  And now the torch and poppy red

  Wear in honour of our dead

  Fear not that ye have died for naught

  We’ve learned the lesson that ye taught

  In Flanders’ fields.

  An American, Miss Moira Michael, read “In Flanders’ Fields” and wrote “We Shall Keep The Faith” in reply.