ABPA - Australian Bush Poets Association

THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER
Maureen Clifford © The Scribbly Bark Poet

He stands for all of the war dead in the future, present, and past,
an unknown Aussie soldier who fought and breathed his last
on green French fields of battle – but we don’t know his name
but we know he was Australian and I bet that he died game.

He gave up home and hearth and job, he left his own country.
He left a grieving Mother and a grieving family
who never knew if it was their man’s body now interred
below our nations fluttering flags, with honours now conferred.

He’s someone’s son, but who’s he is indeed we’ll never know.
Enough for us to realize that a Hero lies below;
who once fought on the fields of France, was buried where he lay.
At end of war, was moved again to rest some miles away.

None know with what Battalion this young Aussie bloke fought.
None even know where he was slain or what this young man thought.
But a nation remembers him every Remembrance Day -
a fighting Aussie – loyal and true – whose life war stole away.

So when you wear the poppy and you cheer at the parades,
remember this young bloke who rests alone now in his grave.
He is the ‘unknown soldier’ a young bloke who gave his all
returned now to his homeland, once exhumed from foreign soil.

And every lad who comes back home again from fields of war
is represented by this bloke and what he had fought for.
His tomb will bear the words that they took from his eulogy
‘He is all of them, he’s one of us’ – he fought to keep us free.

We buried him with bayonet and wattle for his toil
and laid his bones to rest again back in Australian soil.
We know he is Australian but we don’t know his name
but I’ll bet you any money Mate that this young bloke died game.

Wonderful words in remembrance Maureen. "Game as a piss ant!" my grandfather used to say. I've never known quite what a piss ant is but I've continued to use the saying. Maybe Bill the old battler knows the saying.
Wazza

Google is your friend


Pissant is an epithet for an inconsequential, irrelevant, or worthless person, especially one who is irritating or contemptible out of proportion to his or her perceived significance. A Virginia politician also popularized the term, once silencing a heckler by saying, "I'm a big dog on a big hunt and I don't have time for a piss-ant on a melon stalk."
The term piss-ant can also be used as an adjective, usually as a pejorative, to mean insignificant and annoying. In conversations with his advisors during the Vietnam War, U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson referred to Vietnam as "a piddling piss-ant little country".

Thank you - I think

Cheers

Maureen

Great poem Maureen. Goodonya. (best be prepared for a rant...if ya gunna say words like 'piss-ant'..

Very interesting Maureen. I guess it's possible that an inconsequential person making his presence felt could fit. My memory of the term goes back to the 1940s.
And thank you I also think.
Wazza

The only problem I have with "The Unknown Soldier" is this - and correct me if I'm wrong.

As I understand it, when the 'unknown soldier' was chosen, a decision was made not to try to discover his identity. This is not to say his identity could definitely have been discovered, but it is possible that it might have been discovered, if a concerted effort was made.

This means a family is out there somewhere not knowing that the body of their loved ancestor has been found.

If we assume that society generally approves of this - and I don't know if this is a fair assumption or not; my guess is that most people have not thought the whole thing through particularly well, but let's assume for the time being that it does - we are effectively dealing with a ritual sacrifice. The community is broadly agreeing that the emotional needs of one family will be sacrificed for the emotional needs of the broader community.

This does not sit particularly well with me.

Plans for a tomb were first mooted in 1920 but it was not until 1993 that any action was taken

According to the info that I based this on the Govt were very particular in choosing a body that had been unable to be identified by using DNA that has been submitted by families searching for loved ones. Perhaps any family that may have been left in Australia had died out themselves. After all it was over 70 years from the time this took place to the time the war had ended - it's about 90 years now as I think it was around 1993 that they bought him home and reinterred him on 11/11/1993.

They also wanted a complete skeleton and initially thought they may have to disturb a few graves to find that but struck it lucky on the first one. They knew he was Australian from his uniform, but did not know where his body was recovered from initially or what regiment he was from - presuming he was interred initially in a mass grave perhaps after the battle??


The whole thing was carried put with the utmost respect both for the soldier and for any other people who may have been around the French cemetery at the time. The Unknown Australian Soldier was buried in a Tasmanian blackwood coffin, with a bayonet and a sprig of wattle, and soil from the Pozières battlefield was scattered on his tomb. He represents all Australians who have been killed in war.

Yes, I suppose I'll have to go back and do some more research. I'm sure I heard at some point that a decision had been made not to subject the body to more advanced identifying techniques which had subsequently come to hand. I'm sure I heard something about it on Radio National a few years ago - but perhaps I've got it wrong.

Maureen.. a sensitive treatment of an emotive subject. You really get inside the poem and your sincere and noble feelings show through. Overpowering in its expression.... and a poem that deserves to live forever. Thanks for posting it.

Thank you Gary for taking the time to read and comment - it's appreciated