Where have all the young men gone?
When we scan the Census forms
In twenty twenty one and wonder,
Where have all the young men gone?
Then we remember. Ypres, Mons,
And the Somme.
They went to war a hundred years ago
Brothers, Fathers, and Uncles, we never grew to know.
Where have all the young men gone?
They lay at rest in Ypres, Mons,
And the Somme
The Volunteers answered Redmond's call,
When Britain's back, was against the wall.
Never returned to where they came from
Now at peace in Ypres, Mons,
And the Somme.
Today crowds who stand and silently wait, for the
Last post and reveille, at the Mennin Gate.
Read men’s names and the regiments they came from
Who lie in graves, unmarked, at Ypres, Mons
And the Somme.
That mournful sound as buglers play.
The Last Post in Mennin at the end of day.
Their memory in towns and villages will live on.
As they rest quietly now, In Gallipolli, Ypres, Mons,
And the Somme.
To commemorate the hundredth anniversary of the end of The Great War 1914--1918. In Memory of. Pte Thomas Byrne. 1900. 6th Bn. Royal Irish Regt. Killed in Action at Passchendale, Ypres. 5th August 1917.
Tom O'Byrne, (Nephew) August 2018.
