| « Down Time | Congratulations, Capitulation » |
EU Culture Week (Day 2) - The Soldier
Harvey Andrews - The Soldier
I hadn't planned to do the songs in this order but with today's announcement of the disbandment of the RIR's home battalions it seems appropriate. This song depicts the futility and carnage of violence, viewed from a very personal level and set in the context of Northern Ireland's "Troubles." The song is apparently popular among servicemen in Ulster and Germany to this day although the MoD advise soldiers not to sing it in situations where it might start trouble.
The song is reported to have been inspired by a true story of a soldier, Sergeant Michael G. Willets (apparently a Catholic), who sacrificed himself to save a young girl and a 4 year old boy from an IRA bomb and was killed when the bomb exploded. It really makes you think about how much all of us in Northern Ireland owe to all the soldiers who served in Ulster during the worst periods of conflict here and the sacrifices they all made. Of course the BBC, being the BBC, saw fit to show it's appreciation to these men by banning Andrews's song from the airwaves for a long time in case it provoked ill-felling among nationalists.
Follow up:
The Soldier
Harvey AndrewsIn a station in the city a British soldier stood
Talking to the people there if the people would.
Some just stared in hatred, and others turned in pain
And the lonely British soldier wished he was back home again."Come join the British Army!" said the posters in his town
"See the world and have your fun come serve before the Crown."
The jobs were hard to come by and he could not face the dole
So he took his country's shilling and enlisted on the roll.For there was no fear of fighting, the Empire long was lost.
Just ten years in the army getting paid for being bossed.
Then leave a man experienced a man who's made the grade,
A medal and a pension some memories and a trade.Then came the call for Ireland as the call had come before,
Another bloody chapter in an endless civil war.
The priests they stood on both sides the priests they stood behind.
Another fight in Jesus's name the blind against the blind.The soldier stood between them, between the whistling stones,
And then the broken bottles that led to broken bones.
The petrol bombs that burnt his hands, the nails that pierced his skin
And wished that he had stayed at home surrounded by his kin.The station filled with people the soldier soon was bored
But better in the station than where the people warred.
The room filled up with mothers with daughters and with sons,
Who stared with itchy fingers at the soldier and his gun.A yell of fear a screech of brakes the shattering of glass.
The window of the station broke to let the package pass.
A scream came from the mothers as they ran towards the door,
Dragging children crying from the bomb upon the floor.The soldier stood and could not move, his gun he could not use.
He knew the bomb had seconds and not minutes on the fuse.
He could not run and pick it up and throw it in the street,
There were far too many people there too many running feet."Take cover!" yelled the soldier, "Take cover for your lives!"
And the Irishmen threw down their young and stood before their wives.
They turned towards the soldier their eyes alive with fear,
"For God's sake save our children or they'll end their short lives here."The soldier moved towards the bomb, his stomach like a stone.
Why was this his battle God? Why was he alone?
He lay down on the package and he murmured one farewell,
To those at home in England to those he loved so well.He saw the sights of summer felt the wind upon his brow
The young girls in the city parks how precious were they now
The soaring of the swallow the beauty of the swan
The music of the turning world so soon would it be goneA muffled soft explosion and the room began to quake.
The soldier blown across the floor his blood a crimson lake.
There was no time to cry or shout there was no time to moan,
And they turned their children's faces from the blood and from the bones.The crowd outside soon gathered and the ambulances came,
To carry off the body of a pawn lost in the game,
And the crowd they clapped and cheered and they sang their rebel songs.
One soldier less to interfere where he did not belong.And will the children growing up learn at their mothers' knees,
The story of the soldier who bought their liberty?
Who used his youthful body as the means towards the end,
Who gave his life to those who called him murderer not friend.
The song comes from the album Writer of Songs, which can be bought directly from Harvey Andrews's website: HarveyAndrews.com. I urge you to grab a copy of the CD like I'll be doing shortly.
The Story Behind The Song
As mentioned above, the song is reportedly based on the story of Sergeant Michael Willets of the Parachute Regiment. Sergeant Willets was killed at Springfield Road police station on 25th May 1971 when a car stopped outside, a man stepped out and threw a briefcase through the front door to an area where several civilians sat. These civilians included Patrick Gray, his daughter Colette, their neighbour Elizabeth Cummings and her 4 year old son Carl.
"Immediately he saw the suitcase hit the floor, Sergeant Willets realised what was about to happen. He thrust the two children down into a corner and stood above them, shielding them as the 30lbs explosive in the suitcase went off. He was killed instantly but the children he'd protected escaped with their lives. The police inspector in the room was seriously injured and across the road a two-year-old, being pushed in a pram by his mother, was blown through a shop window. He was to regain consciousness only after months in hospital."
Bombs Have No Pity, Lt. Col. George Styles, 1996
Outside, as Sergeant Willets's body was carried to the ambulance, a crowd of youths is reported to have jeered and screamed obscenities. (Phoenix, Policing the Shadows - 1996)
The Small Print
Information on the true story on which The Soldier is based taken originally from Lost Lives: The Stories of the Men, Women and Children Who Died Through the Northern Ireland Troubles
The lyrics of the song are © Harvey Andrews and are reproduced with permission from the author. That does not imply that Harvey Andrews in any way endorses the rest of the article.
Trackback address for this post
17 comments
...(remainder of comment moved to Congratulations, Capitulation - beano)
I pity your inability to see things from any perspective other than the one that suits your beliefs.
They weren't here to hold on to a dominated people and their land, no matter what Sinn Fein may try to rewrite into history. They were here to defending us from the terrorists who plagued this country for so long. They were here preventing Northern Ireland from being destroyed in all-out war. They were here minimising the numbers of innocent people whose lives were destroyed by the violence and bloodshed.
So yes, we all owe them a debt of gratitude, particularly those who fell in the line of duty.
That song is very powerful.
But it should be pointed out that the troops were originally sent in, not to protect people from the IRA (which at the time practically had ceased to exist), but because the B Specials were partisan, and at the forefront of rioting against peaceful NICRA demonstrations.
Nationalists originally welcomed the troops - but when the troops failed to stop the rioting and the burning, the feeling turned.
Either way, my original comments still stand.
I can see the tragedy in any loss of life, be it a soldier killed by a terrorist, or a civilian killed by a soldier.
Can you?
The reason I think that we owe the soldiers our thanks is that without them to keep the peace there likely would have been many more losses (and the 3,000 we had were 3,000 too many).
This from an army source:
The British Army deploys on the 15th of August. Due to the Troops initial unfamiliarity with the sectarian geography of the area, allowed rioters to burn Bombay Street down
Here
According to Tim Pat Coogan in "the Troubles", local Clergy tried to get the army to move between the rioting groups, but the Army refused, instead separating part of the catholic area from the rest of the catholic area.
The army reinforcements were welcomed by Roman Catholics, particularly in Belfast, because they were at a disadvantage numerically and were mostly living in small enclaves surrounded by larger Protestant areas.
Normally however, the police are reinforced with police from other parts of the country. Unfortunately the government decided to use the army, who weren't quite used to urban warfare at that time. Soldiers were soldiers - trained to fire at an enemy and to use more than minimum force to safegaurd a given area.
The government made a mistake on that score - they should have reinforced the police with the Mets instead. But that's not what happened, and many soldiers: English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish, losst their lives in carrying out their duty of protecting the country's citizens.
About using the army in sectarian violence like this.
The parallel to today's Iraq isn't far off in my mind. Sure, the British Army probably does some things wrong but I'm sure most normal folks would rather have them there than see them leave tomorrow.
Bosnia is another example of how things can go if protagonists are allowed to get by themselves. That ended with 100,000 killed and 2 million refugees (on all sides).
Comment feed for this postLeave a comment
