Our Cobbers
This was the prize winning entry in a 1942 competition conducted at Changi POW Camp by AIF Command,
November 10, 1942. The winner was Cpl Brian Keighley-Gerardy.
“Cobbers! Our Cobbers!
We remember you.
Your gay laughter and lusty youth
Are now part of the Song of Ages.
Earth mourns –
And we go on
Remembering you all
Our Cobbers!…
Above the places where you lie
Fragile flowers grow
And their chaste lingering beauty
Promises Eternal spring-time
In a habitation
Not made with hands
But in the Heavens above,
Where there are
No thundering guns of death,
No blinded eyes,
No blood-red wounds,
No writhing agony,
And no pain.
Praying that God in His Mercy
Shall let us
Hear your laughter –
Join in your song,
And clasp your friendly,
Clammy hands
In ours –
Once more.
Cobbers!…Our Cobbers!
We remember.
We shall not forget.”
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