{"id":1510,"date":"2012-06-13T02:49:20","date_gmt":"2012-06-13T02:49:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/soundslikewish.wordpress.com\/?p=1510"},"modified":"2018-09-14T07:21:04","modified_gmt":"2018-09-13T21:21:04","slug":"friendship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/soundslikewish.org\/?p=1510","title":{"rendered":"Friendship"},"content":{"rendered":"

FRIENDSHIP<\/strong><\/p>\n

Perhaps you, my blog readers, could help me understand something about this poem that my father wrote:\u00a0 As you get towards the end you’ll see a line about a ‘flare’;\u00a0 what do you think was happening?\u00a0 Read the whole poem and let me know if you can enlighten me.<\/p>\n

Sixty-nine refers to Hill 69 near Gaza, Palestine, where my father’s battalion was recovering after having defended Tobruk in Libya;\u00a0 at Hill 69 they did further training as well as garrison and border protection.<\/p>\n

The photo shows the first verse in his handwriting but I’ve transcribed all the verses, which you’ll see below the image.\u00a0 I was inspired by the ‘Friendship’ theme of this week’s WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge to add this poem, which, you’ll find, is about friendship in war.<\/p>\n

The poem is signed with my father’s initials, R.E.B.\u00a0 I ask that it not be copied without my permission and without credit to him.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Red Kane of 69<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Something’s brewing,” said Red to his mate,
\nAs they gazed along the line,
\n“It don’t get quiet for nothing,
\nNot here, at Sixty-nine.”
\nHe thought of a time, two months ago,
\nHe got a similar hunch,
\nAnd Jerrie came over in “Spitfires”,
\nAnd wiped out most of his bunch.<\/p>\n

The “TRICK” was as old as the bloody hills,
\nThe one they pulled that night.
\nIn a couple of patched-up Spitfires,
\nThey made that bloody flight;
\nAll eyes looked in their direction,
\nThe shout went up, “All’s Well”,
\nIn came the bloody Spitfires,
\nTurning loose All Hell.<\/p>\n

“I’ll square that deal, cobbers,” he said,
\nDamned near fit to howl,
\n“Even if it cost me me bloody life,”
\n“By bloody fair means or fowl;”
\nFor he was a Dinkum Aussie,
\nBig and strong as a lion,
\nAnd he was a natural marksman too,
\nRed Kane, of Sixty-nine.<\/p>\n

And now as he gazed across the sand,
\nSomething to him was clear,
\nThere was Jerry movement on tonight,
\nAnd to him came a great idea;
\nAnd so he spoke in whispers,
\nAs he conversed with his mate,
\nTonight they’d square a deal,
\nRegardless of their fate.<\/p>\n

The Jerries moved with caution,
\nMore cautious still, was Kane,
\nHe wondered how his mate was,
\nIf things panned out the same;
\nComplete in every detail now,
\nHe lay face down, in prayer,
\nFor five in every hundred yards,
\nHe’d set and laid a flare.<\/p>\n

That night, his mates were avenged,
\nPaid back, more than two-fold,
\nPaid by the help of his very own life,
\nFor he now lay stiff and cold;
\nHe’s gone to the great Beyond now,
\nA place of Perfect Design,
\nAnd greater love hath no man,
\nThan Red Kane of Sixty-nine.<\/p>\n

Ronald E. Bruce, 1941
\n\u00a9 Patricia Worth, 2012<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FRIENDSHIP Perhaps you, my blog readers, could help me understand something about this poem that my father wrote:\u00a0 As you get towards the end you’ll see a line about a ‘flare’;\u00a0 what do you think was happening?\u00a0 Read the whole poem and let me know if you can enlighten me. Sixty-nine refers to Hill 69 … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Friendship”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,13,35],"tags":[4,5,108,1340,33,21,22,1339,659],"class_list":["post-1510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-my-photos","category-wwii","category-wwii-poems","tag-1940s","tag-215th-battalion","tag-friendship","tag-poem","tag-poetry","tag-postaday","tag-postaday2012","tag-red-kane-of-69","tag-war-poetry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/soundslikewish.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/soundslikewish.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/soundslikewish.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soundslikewish.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soundslikewish.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1510"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/soundslikewish.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1510\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11511,"href":"https:\/\/soundslikewish.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1510\/revisions\/11511"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/soundslikewish.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soundslikewish.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soundslikewish.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}