THE SONGS WE SANG
IN THE NEW ZEALAND FORCES OVERSEAS
By LES CLEVELAND
And the D Day Dodgers
SIDE ONE
RED, WHITE AND NAVY BLUE
AIWA SAIDA
SAIDA BINT
MY AFRICA STAR
ROLLING WHEELS
SIDE TWO
THE GOOD SHIP "VENUS"
MY A.25
THE ARMY IN FIJI
THE FIGHTING KIWI
SIDE SIDE, MONOWAI SIDE
THIS IS MY STORY
In World War II. New Zealand sent two
infantry divisions overseas and supplied a great many airmen and sailors for the Allied Forces. Though the war has been over for fifteen years the song's are still with us. Many of us have half-forgotten them: others will have heard only a few of them and these in a variety of versions—but all will listen to them with new interest, conscious that the songs speak with unfading humour and sentiment of difficult days, conscious too that they occupy a unique place in New Zealand music and folk-lore. They are songs that deserve to live again.
One of the paradoxes of World War II was that
while at any given moment ferocious struggles would be raging at widely separated points on the combined fronts, there would be thousands and thousands of other men
who were uncommitted, killing time in bivouacs, camps and garrisons anywhere from Siberia to the Campbell Islands. Singing was one of the ways to fight boredom and relieve nervous tension.
The New Zealand formations, always a
clannish, high-spirited lot, soon developed their own unit traditions. A great many ballads and choruses emerged. Some of the most popular ones have been used in this recording.
RED WHITE AND NAVY BLUE
This song was heard in units of the 3rd
Division who were stationed on
assorted Pacific Islands. At one stage their 8th Brigade Concert Party—
a devoted group which, when not doing defence platoon duties, rattled aroundwith a piano in a truck giving shows in the jungle—used this chorus as a
theme. It has a wry denouement, for the Pacific troops were much given
to irony and satire to relieve and express the frustration and monotony of
their duties.
"We're the heroes of the night
And we'd rather drink than fight!
We're the heroes of Bob Semple'e Fusiliers."
Semple was a Labour politician with a pungent, forthright turn of speech.
He distinguished himself on the outbreak of war by causing the Public Works
Department, of which he was head, to fabricate a tank out of some old steel
plate and a crawler tractor. It took part in one military parade, broke down.
and was never seen again.
AIWA SAIDA
A spirited and celebrated song, popular
amongst all the troops in the Middle East, especially the Kiwis,
MY AFRICA STAR
This is a satire based on one of the
red-hot grievances of the New Zealand
Division in the Middle East, The Eighth Army was formed in September,
1941. To qualify for a small metal figure eight which was worn with the
Africa Star ribbon, it was necessary to have served in the Eighth Army on
or after October 2S, 1942. But the formation had been fighting for a year
prior to that arbitrary date, so that all those men who had been knocked out
with wounds, invalided out with illness or transferred to non-operational
units were denied this small but significant award. Some of them were
veterans of the first desert battles and their remarks were often voluble and
loud when they saw less-worthy soldiers—including girls serving ice-cream in
army canteens and "those who were in Palestine"—wearing "the eight".
SAIDA BINT
Another sentimental song widely known and
sung by troops in Egypt.
ROLLING WHEELS
A Maori Battalion song which mentions a few
of the many places in which
they campaigned. Ngarimu was the famous Maori V.C.
THE GOOD SHIP "VENUS"
The adventures of the crew of this fabulous
vessel constitute a saga with
as many, variations as there are singers and audiences.
MY A.25
A humorous piece about the hazards of deck
landing on aircraft carriers.
It was essentially a song of the Fleet Air Arm, the flying branch of the
Royal Navy in which around 1,000 New Zealand pilots and navigators served.
The A.25 was an Admiralty form on which a pilot had to attempt to explain
away the circumstances of the crash he had walked—or swum—away from.
Other technical terms: Batsman, the deck landing signals officer who
directed
planes in to land. Goofers, a slang reference to a relatively safe
vantage
point from Which it was possible to watch the sport of deck landing. Cut, the
final signal from the batsman to a pilot making a landing. Barrier, a
wire
net to protect aircraft on the bow of the carrier from the over-enthusiastic
efforts of pilots landing. Booster, an accelerator catapult. Supermarine,
the
firm of Vickers-Supermarine, makers of Spitfire and Seafire aircraft. Wings.
an abbreviated term for the senior flying officer on the carrier. Lee,
Lee on
Solent, wartime air station of the Fleet Air Arm.
A clever device combining lights and a large
curved mirror has now replaced
the batsman—automation no less! With the advent of the angled deck.
barriers • are not normally required except in the event of a hook failure.
They are now made of nylon.
THE ARMY IN FIJI
A song which reflects the bitter feelings of
many members of the original
Eighth Brigade Group which was hastily sent to Fiji when it was thought that
Japanese forces might reach that far in their Pacific drive. This garrison
force was none-too-well supplied, it saw no action, and most of the men in it
were soon tired of existing miserably in the tropics. Some of the weapons
that went to Fiji were very old and worn. In the early stages there were
shortages of ammunition and other necessities. The song describes a celebrated
incident which many soldiers insist actually occurred—a box of ammunition
was opened and found to contain leadhead nails
SIDE SIDE, MONOWAI SIDE
A Kiwi variation of a traditional theme which
sailors and troops have
applied to a long list of warships and troop carriers. This particular one—
the Monowai— was a liner which was used a good deal during the war to
move troops. Soldiers always hate being on troop-ships. The food is poor,
quarters are crowded and stuffy, and some starchy old naval type is always
apt to demand that mess decks be scrubbed, water rationed or kits stowed
in a certain way. The troops invariably felt that the regulations were
designed for their personal inconvenience rather than the safety of the ship
or the general furtherance of the war effort. The fact that the troops were
occasionally wrong in the warmth with wbich they objected to this regimentation did not affect their vehemence,
THE SONGS WE SANG
A full collection of texts of New Zealand
services songs and ballads IS
AVAILABLE in book form under the name TITLE.
KIWI RECORD LA-3
33 1-3 R.P.M.
LONG PLAY
