C                    Gsus4                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When they asked that his men be withdrawn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

Gsus4                 C
Held back the enemy tanks for a while

        C                    Gsus4
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                                Gsus4
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