A Tribute to a Hero

                                                                        A TRIBUTE TO A HERO

In a field in France 100 years ago

In a muddy god forsaken trench

Sits a row of British soldiers

Among the smoke and stench

All waiting for the order

Over the top they all must go

But to what awaits them

They really do not know

One of them a South Shields lad

Looks at a photo of his wife

Unaware of what's to come

It's the last day of his life

But he's not the only one

many others take last looks at their wives

For them the same fate awaits them

It too is the last day of their lives

Not a word is spoken

Each man in silent thought

Hoping to dodge the bullets

Thinking of how to not get caught

He prays to god he'll make it

But god was busy on that day

Answering all the other prayers

So on that field he'd had to stay

Finally it goes all quiet

As the guns they all do stop

The time is now close at hand

To climb the ladder and go over the top

The feeling in the trench rapidly begins to change

Some men they even cry

Praying that they'll get home

They are too young to die

Their commander stand all waiting

Until on their whistles they all do blow

Like lambs to the slaughter

Over the top they all do go

His heart is thumping in his chest

As he just straight ahead

Jumping over fallen friends

Who now lie cold and dead

Images run through his mind

His wife, his mum and dad

Knowing if he falls that day

He'll make them oh so sad

Nobody knows what killed him

Or exactly that he fell

Mixed in with fallen comrades

In that place that they called hell

This is a tale of John William Hope

A relative I'd never see

But there will always be a part of France

That forever belongs to me