Half a league half a league,
Half a league onward!
Into the valley of death
Up from the trenches!

Forward..... (for war)

stormed at with shot and shell
boldly they fought damn well,
into the jaws of death! (jaws of death!)

On that one day in July
Many a thousand died
Into the mouth of hell! (mouth of hell!)

Machine gun fire like reaper's scythe
No man's land, infernal sight
Screamed in pain and fell like grain
Rottings corpses, unmarked graves

Untimely sacrifices
for soldiers' god, honour
No noble cause, no heroes' fate
accomplished nothing, died in vain


This is their finest hour
To die for a higher power
They all look the same
And no one here has a name

This war was supposed to be
the great war to end all wars


Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do & die,
Into the valley of Death
They ride
In the vaLley of death they they died

stormed at with shot and shell
boldly they fought damn well,
into the jaws of death! (jaws of death!)

On that one day in July
Many a thousand died
Into the mouth of hell! (mouth of hell!)

Infantry
shell-shock
thousands emerged from the trenches
THe front line
at the point of death
Plunge into the smoke-darkened field

of the first line,
none survived
their lives worth less than nothing

Territory
Ideology
Other men's causes to die for

This is their finest hour
To die for a higher power
They all look the same
And no one here has a name

This war was supposed to be
the great war to end all wars

Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do & die,
Into the valley of Death
They ride
In the vaLley of death they they died