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'That Fatal Wooden Track'

by Bombardier Ernest Edward Sears

The Rushden Echo Friday 19 September 1919, transcribed by Nicky Bates

Rushden Soldier's Line - Verses Found in Deceased Bombardier's Kit

A melancholy interest attaches to the verses published below. They were composed by the late Bombardier Ernest Edward Sears of Rushden, who was killed in action during the war. His wife has just received the deceased soldier's kit, in going through which she found the verses. Several photographs of his friends were included, and these had been shot through by shrapnel. The lines, which Bombardier Sears had entitled "That Fatal Wooden Track", are as follow:-

There's a place not far from Ypres, sir,
To the eastward on the map.
The place is Warrington Road, sir,
Better known as "The Wooden Track."

And when they get the order
"Be ready, sharp, at nine,"
You'll see the drivers mounted,
And ready for the Line.

For the guns are always calling
For shells both night and day;
And as they near the place of fate,
They think of home, and pray.

They pray to God in Heaven
To bring them Safely back,
And give them courage
To get over "The Wooden Track".

'Tis then they need their courage,
As they gallop up the track;
Though shells fall round like hailstones,
There is no turning back.

Though tragic in its splendour
Is the scene that meets the eye,
The bravest and the best, sir,
Have gone there oft to die.

This is the place for heroes, sir;
May the story be ever new,
Of the Twenty-fifth Division,
Who wear the Red Horse Shoe.



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