BeerIsTheBest
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 6 Oct 2018
- Messages
- 1,965
Was in Normandy last week. The 1500 metal cut out soldier silhouettes at the new British Cemetery are truly fantastic,
That was mainly the English, though there were one or two Taffy’s giving us a lift. :-)Wern't they at Rorkes Drift?
My Grandad was already fighting in Europe when D-Day happened, he was a Desert Rat and was in Italy.
It is generally believed that it was Lady Astor MP who first called the men of the 8th Army who were fighting in the Italian Campaign 'D-Day Dodgers'. But then, she was known to say many things she must have regretted. She was the one who once famously chided Winston Churchill for being drunk - to which he countered that she was ugly, and at least he would be sober in the morning! During another encounter with the Prime Minister she said that if he were her husband, she would give him poison. He replied that if he were her husband, he would drink it.
The fact is that the 8th Army were more than displeased to be called 'D-Day Dodgers', and with good reason. Since 1941, they'd had quite enough D-Day to last a lifetime during the North African and Italian campaigns: El Alamein, Tripoli, Mareth, Tunis, Sicily, Calabria, Algiers, Salerno, Anzio, and then the slog through the mountains of Italy.
The only way to deal with this slur was to laugh, and so a song was composed to the tune of 'Lili Marlene', the haunting song by Marlene Dietrich.
The 8th Army version went like this:
We are the D-Day Dodgers, out in Italy,
Always on the vino, always on a spree,
8th Army skivers and their tanks,
We go to war, in ties and slacks,
We are the D-Day Dodgers, in sunny Italy.
We fought into Agira, a holiday with pay,
Jerry brought his bands out to cheer us on our way,
Showed us the sights and gave us tea,
We all sang songs, the beer was free,
We are the D-Day Dodgers, in sunny Italy.
The Moro and Ortona were taken in our stride,
We didn't really fight there, we went there for the ride,
Sleeping 'til noon and playing games,
We live in Rome with lots of dames,
We are the D-Day Dodgers, in sunny Italy.
On our way to Florence, we had a lovely time,
We drove a bus from Rimini, right through the Gothic Line,
Then to Bologna we did go,
We all went swimming in the Po,
We are the D-Day Dodgers, in sunny Italy.
We hear the boys in France are going home on leave,
After six months service, such a shame they're not relieved.
We were told to carry on a few more years,
Because our wives don't shed no tears,
We are the D-Day Dodgers, in sunny Italy.
We are the D-Day Dodgers, way out in Italy.
We're always tight, we cannot fight.
What bloody use are we
My Grandad was already fighting in Europe when D-Day happened, he was a Desert Rat and was in Italy.
It is generally believed that it was Lady Astor MP who first called the men of the 8th Army who were fighting in the Italian Campaign 'D-Day Dodgers'. But then, she was known to say many things she must have regretted. She was the one who once famously chided Winston Churchill for being drunk - to which he countered that she was ugly, and at least he would be sober in the morning! During another encounter with the Prime Minister she said that if he were her husband, she would give him poison. He replied that if he were her husband, he would drink it.
The fact is that the 8th Army were more than displeased to be called 'D-Day Dodgers', and with good reason. Since 1941, they'd had quite enough D-Day to last a lifetime during the North African and Italian campaigns: El Alamein, Tripoli, Mareth, Tunis, Sicily, Calabria, Algiers, Salerno, Anzio, and then the slog through the mountains of Italy.
The only way to deal with this slur was to laugh, and so a song was composed to the tune of 'Lili Marlene', the haunting song by Marlene Dietrich.
The 8th Army version went like this:
We are the D-Day Dodgers, out in Italy,
Always on the vino, always on a spree,
8th Army skivers and their tanks,
We go to war, in ties and slacks,
We are the D-Day Dodgers, in sunny Italy.
We fought into Agira, a holiday with pay,
Jerry brought his bands out to cheer us on our way,
Showed us the sights and gave us tea,
We all sang songs, the beer was free,
We are the D-Day Dodgers, in sunny Italy.
The Moro and Ortona were taken in our stride,
We didn't really fight there, we went there for the ride,
Sleeping 'til noon and playing games,
We live in Rome with lots of dames,
We are the D-Day Dodgers, in sunny Italy.
On our way to Florence, we had a lovely time,
We drove a bus from Rimini, right through the Gothic Line,
Then to Bologna we did go,
We all went swimming in the Po,
We are the D-Day Dodgers, in sunny Italy.
We hear the boys in France are going home on leave,
After six months service, such a shame they're not relieved.
We were told to carry on a few more years,
Because our wives don't shed no tears,
We are the D-Day Dodgers, in sunny Italy.
We are the D-Day Dodgers, way out in Italy.
We're always tight, we cannot fight.
What bloody use are we