C G# C
It was just before dawn one miserable morning in black forty-four
C
When the foreward commander was told to sit tight,
F/C C
When they asked that his men be withdrawn
C
And the generals gave thanks, as the other ranks
G# C
Held back the enemy tanks for a while
C G#
And the Anzio Bridgehead was held for the price
C
Of a few hundred ordinary lives
C G C G
And kind old King George sent Mother a note when
he heard that Father was gone
C G C
It was, I recall, in the form of a scroll with gold leaf and all
C
And I found it one day in a drawer of old photographs hidden away
C G#
And my eyes still grow damp to remember
C
His Majesty signed with his own rubber stamp
C G C
It was dark all around, there was frost on the ground
G
When the Tigers broke free
C
And no-one survived from the Royal Fusiliers, Company "C"
G C G C
They were all left behind, most of them dead - the rest of them dying
C G C
And that's how the high command took my daddy from me