Throughout the Second World War, our family and many others waited anxiously for news about our soldiers, and prayed for their safe return. During the war, my great uncle Ernest Barter (Grandfather Leslie’s older brother), wrote a poem about the boys who served in Hong Kong.
Copyright © 1999 Joseph George Caldwell. All rights reserved. Posted at Internet website http://www.foundationwebsite.org.
When our empire was invaded,
And called for volunteers
They quickly joined the Royal Ranks
Though some were young in years.
Which caused some tender hearts to ache
And hoary heads to bow.
Where scarcely eighteen summers
Shone on some youthful brow.
They heeded not the ties of love
That bid them fondly stay.
But crossed the wide Pacific span
To the thickest of the fray.
Where cannons roar like thunder
And shrapnel swiftly flies
And drums and trumpets sounding
To drown all dismal cries.
‘Twas there they fell those gallant youths
As poets oft-times said
The brilliant sun that never sets
Where slumbers England’s dead.
Now let the palm tree and poppy flowers
Their leaves by soft winds fan,
The graves of those who slumber there
‘Neath Hong Kong’s bloody sand.
O loved ones sleep and take thy rest,
A calm and sweet repose
Where the summer winds blow soft and fair
Where blooms the tropic rose.
Till the Lord shall give that quickening shout
And set the captives free
When death shall lose its venom sting
The grave its victory.
FndID(240)
FndTitle(Tribute to the Brave Boys in Hong Kong, by Ernest Barter)
FndDescription(Tribute to the Brave Boys in Hong Kong, by Ernest Barter, a poem about Canadian soldiers in Hong Kong in World War II.)
FndKeywords(Leslie Barter; Hong Kong; Bob Barter; Frank McColm; Japanese treatment of prisoners)