THE MAN AT THE DARDANELLES.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXV, Issue 8270, 15 October 1915, Page 3

THE MAN AT THE DARDANELLES.

r (By Chas. .W: Purnell.)

What is he doing, in khaki clad, Who whistles with cheery note and glad, As if dull care he never had? The man at the Dardanelles. He climbs the hills with load on back, A mighty, heterogeneous pack— - 'Twould make a. giant's muscles crack, The man at the Dardanelles. With bursting shells the air grows gray, The bullets hum throughout the day, But careless he goes on his way, The man at the Dardanelles. He is there to do what must be done For men to dwell beneath the sun Free from the Teuton sword and gun, The man at the Dardanelles. 'Tis his to add one blazon more To the flag that his forefathers boreTo victory in i tho days of,' yore, '. Th^'man at the Dardanelles.. He toils by day, and" eke by night,l.; ' In trenches dug in. the-Turks' despite. On Grallipoli's rugged-height, The man at the Dardanelles. Sometimes the battle's slumbering pyre Becomes a flaming, roaring fire; Then wakes to life his martial ire, The man at the Dardanelles. lie leaps to meet the rushing foe, Nor halts a a idle moment, though Death may be roving to and fro, , The man at the Dardanelles.

His home is where the southern sky Sproads its blue concave, broad and high, O'er lands where peace and plenty lie, The man at the Dardanelles. But' he is bora of a.n ancient race That ;■: never, feared the foe to face^" That recks not , death, but dreads disgrace, " ' '•.'.' The man at the Dardanelles.

Then let us drink a bumper toast To him who, on the Turkish coast, Is fighting with the Moslem host, The man at the Dardanelles. .;

Ashburton, October 2, 1915. —" Canterbury Times."