When The Tigers Broke Free

Lyrics

It was just before dawn  
One miserable morning in black '44,  
When the forward commander  
Was told to sit tight  
When he asked that his men be withdrawn.  
And the generals gave thanks  
As the other ranks  
Held back the enemy tanks for a while,  
And the Anzio bridgehead was held for the price  
Of a few hundred ordinary lives.  
  
And kind old King George sent mother a note  
When he heard that father was gone.  
It was, I recall, in the form of a scroll,  
With gold leaf and all.  
And I found it one day  
In a drawer of old photographs, hidden away,  
And my eyes still grow damp  
To remember  
His majesty signed  
With his own rubber stamp.  
  
It was dark all around,  
There was frost in the ground  
When the tigers broke free.  
And no one survived from the Royal Fusiliers, Company Z.  
They were all left behind,  
Most of them dead,  
The rest of them dying.  
And that's how the high command  
Took my daddy from me.