Diary relating to service of Hector Alexander McIntyre - Part 14

15/
 — JOHORE -—
[*1/*] There's a strip of Rubber country
North West of Singapore
To the Digger it was a Death Trap
On the map it's called Johore.                                        
[*2/*] It was against tremendous odds
The boys put on a show
They were equal to the Anzacs
At Gallipoli long ago  
[*3/*] But men on the ground can never fight
The terrors of the sky
Without support they just lie still,
To wait on death & die. 
[*4/*] Face to Face odds matter not
The digger likes a scrap
But when the sky is full of Planes
And alas! each one a Jap
[*5/*] It is there you wonder was it a dream
Or in a paper may be you read
Air support will soon arrive
As production goes ahead.
[*6/*] There is a strip of rubber country,
Which someday we will retake,
For that is all he would ask of us,
The chap who was our mate

[*7/*] Then we'll hand Malaya over
For with it goes Johore,
And we pray to God we are never
Called to defend it any more
14/

13/ 

— Look what they're doing to me  — (Continued)
[*9/*] So the poor old A.I.F. is b^_____d,
Oh! ain't it a horrible lurk,
Our two I/C (Heaven neglect him)
Is aiming to get us to work   
[*10/*] There were blokes who lived down in slit trenches
Were silent all through the campaign
But now that the fighting is over
Be Jabers there with us again
[*11/*] We're living on rice three times daily
We're driven & never let roam
There's only one song that I've strength left
to sing
Thats show me the way to go home
12/

11/

— LOOK WHAT THEY'RE DOING TO ME. —
[*1/*] It's years since we joined the army
And went to Grovely to dwell,
We saw Warwick Farm & Holdsworthy,
And learnt to go A.W.L.           
[*CHORUS*]  Curtin, Curtin see what they're doing to me, to me
Curtin, Curtin see what they're doing to me, to me,
[*2/*] Now we had been perfectly happy
Tormenting the Choco's all day
But some silly loud mouthed B^_____,
Whinged when are we going away,

[*3/*] They taught us to march & salute Sir,
To Keep our boots spotless & bright,
We learned everything in creation,
Except how to b^____, well fight

[*4/*] They told us the Japs were a rabble
Half beaten before they began
But after the our very first meeting
We were the b^______ who that run  
[*5/*] We moved back, we withdrew, we scurried,
And looking back, now I could bet,
That if we hadn't run out of country,
We would have been withdrawing yet.
[*6/*] They promised us Planes by the hundreds
We'd  have them tomorrow  — Perhaps
But the only ones we ever sighted
Were freely supplied by the Japs
[* 7/*] They shelled & Machine Gunned & bombed us
Our position looked murky & black
Our Head's shouted Singapore never must fall
And ordered us not to shoot back
[*8/*] We lost all our Guns & our tractors,
And that wiped the smile from our lips
But the Officers suffered much more than
their men
For they lost B^_____, near all of their Pips,
10/

9/
 — P.O.W. Day  — (Continued)
[*19/*] Lights Out will soon be sounding,
And though, we are all broke,
We Know that one amongst us,
Will have to bite a smoke,
[*20/*] Homeward to our Billets,
We wend our weary ways
To lie upon the Concrete
To end a P.O.W. Day.
ADELE SMITH (Contd)
[*10/*] But still worse was yet to Come
Before the dame did go
A Diggers Shiela wrote & Said
"Well two can play you know
[*11/*] At night when comes the mossies,
And the heat is at its worst
Many a Digger home sick Digger
Just layed in bed & cursed
[*12*]/ Lord, Grant me just one favour
Its always just the same
Let me meet this Adele Smith
Of Woman's Weekly fame
[*13/*] Let her get the "Dhoby's Itch"
And Malaria as well
A dose of Dengue fever
All favourites in this hell 
[*14/*] Let her hump a flaming pack
Out in this burning heat
That burns the shirt from off your back
And the soles from under your feet
8/
ADELE SMITH
[*1/*] A certain "Woman's Weekly"
Decided they would tell
The people of Australia
Of where the soldiers dwell
[*2/*] They sent a nice young lady,
Her name was Adele Smith
If you ask the boys opinion
They'll say this with a sniff 
[*3/*] She's a blinking lying blighter             
NO name is fit to tell
Folks like her, should all be burned,
And A then sent down to hell             
[*4/*] Her first installment was read with glee
She said that we were all well
And went to shows & dances
In footlight, here was swell         
[*5/*] We are all completely happy
Even far away from home
And not one lad was sorry
That he had chanced to roam           
[*6/*] In Malaya, there's no mossies,
The Sun ain't hot at all
The Diggers swim, yes, everyday
Beneath a waterfall         
[*7/*] The girls here like the Diggers
They meet them up the lane
And many an Aussie Soldiers' Wife
Wrote two Words "Please explain          
[*8/*] The boys took this for quite a time
And then they began to curse
We'd like to get this Adele Smith
And send her home by Ca Hearse
[*9/*] All they do this lady said,
Is lay out in the sun
A native boy to fan them too
With fans especially made

7/
— P.O.W. Day —(Continued)
[*10/ *] Next up we have our Breakfast,
Our Appetite to Sate
In Single File we get it
Its Rice upon our plate
[*11/*] The Greasy babblers moaning,
The Back lips standing by.
And Cpl death leading
With hunger in his eyes.
[*12/*] Next we've duty company
Its work to make us hard
Collecting Meagre Rations
Or sweeping up the yard
[*13/*] Our after lunch Siesta
Is spent in many ma ways,
With dreams of steak & onions
We knew in better days
[*14/*] We're awakened from our slumber
By a voice thats loud & harsh,
Come grab your dirty washing,
And to the tongs we'll march
[*15/*] With shades of evening falling,
There are visits we must pay,
To Dave & Bill & Harry,
Who live across the way
[*16/*] There are Pals from other units.
There are Mates we'll never see,
Then we think of dear old Aussie
Our home across the sea,
[*17/*] The good old Sway "S.WY." ups going,
We brought it to this land,
We haven't got much money,
But guess we'll take a hand.
[*18/*] There goes the Pennies sailing,
We hear the Boxer Holler,
But luck is dead against us
And there goes our only Dollar,
6/

PETROL AND CEMENT RACKET.
[*1/*] They shifted us from Thompson Road
Our work there was complete
They sent us out to Bukit Timah
Where we lived a treat
[*2/*] Some men were put on Driving Jobs
The others worked & how
Yet pinched some Petrol & cement
And sold it to the Chow
[*3/*] Our Rations had improved a bit
But Satisfied us not
So the trading Proposition paid
Until it got too hot,
[*4/*] With cash on hand
The boys filled up on Eggs & proper food
But seems our aims for doing good
Were somewhat misunderstood
[*5/*] The Sihks played us a shabby trick,
And joined up with the foe
Who used them as a temporary guard
They put on Quite a show
[*6/*] Until the night our concrete snatches
Did the Sikh no good
'Twas then the trouble started
As troubles always would
[*7/*] The Japs thought that Punishment
Would not be out of Place
And when they start on punishing
They surely set the Pace
[*8/*] They Knocked a few blokes over
And all that still remained
The sack from their positions
Was something else they gained
[*9/*] They marched us out to Changi
Full twenty miles away
Although it was a trial
Still we did it in a day

5/
— P.O.W. Day. —
[*1/*] No doubt that we were Bunnies,
To swallow all this talk
of Yankies at Port Dixon,
And Pommy Air Support,
[*2/*] They marched us out to Changi
Ten thousand men or more
The fallen by the roadside
Made us yearn no more for war.
[*3/*] We're planting Beans by Numbers
We're Scoping Arms no more
We're through with Bloody fighting
For Tojo topped the Score.
[*4/*] We live in Shell torn Barracks
Minus water Roof & Tile
The NCO's & Pippers
Eat with the Rank & File,
[*5/*] Our Clothes, they are most scanty,
Our trousers ripped & torn,
We're Bloody near as naked,
As the day that we were born
[*6/*] Our Sharpois; They have taken,
We sleep on them no more,
There is naught for us to do,
But Doss upon the floor.
[*7/*] We Rise at Seven-Thirty,
And creep down to the Tongs,
We think of old Nipona,
And hope it won't be long.
[*8/*] We fall in at a Parade
And answer to our names,
Its Stand at Ease & Stand Easy,
Then the C.O cries again
[*9/*] Tales of Jap Violence,
Tales of Changi Gaol,
A long trek through the Jungle
And God help those who fail
4/
PETROL & CEMENT RACKET (CONTD)
[*10/*] And though it took our utmost pluck
Our spirits never fell
The Jappo's got the worst of it
It pleases me to tell
[*11/*] They thought that they were punishing
Our fellows for their wrong
The agony of empty tums
They thought that they'd prolong
[*12/*] But tucker out at Changi
Was the best we'd ever had
With Comforts from the Red Cross
We had a treat-e-gad
[*13/*]  T'was only four days later
That we got the word to move
Our working capabilities
Again we were to prove
[*14/*] So back we went to Singapore
To camp at Havelock Road
And there, with all trials of life
We promptly were endowed
[*15/*] They put us into Attap huts
Where attap was no more
They told us we would have to sleep
On hardened earthen floors
[*16/*] Our Mess was on the Nostril
The cooks thought we were mugs
In bed we had no hope of dodging
Swarms of hungry Bugs.
[*17/*] The work it was consistant
From dawn till late at Night
From wharf Jobs to digging drains
We worked with all our Might
[*18/*] And days off were unheard of
Week in, week out the same
And even sick men went to work
Unless they proved their claim

3/
 — My Prayer —
[*1/*] A Silver Haired Old Lady,
Kneeling in a silent Prayer,
Praying for her Soldier Son
To be Kept in Gods' good Care,
[*2/*] Where can my solider son be!
Did he fall 'neath the foemens' glaive,
Oh! tell me does he live? Dear God
Or sleep in some shallow Grave
[*3/*] Each day she hears the Postman
Go whistling past the gate,
She's hoping for a letter,
Before it is too late
[*4/*] But unable to break the Silence,
After dodging deaths' hungry maw,
In Changi Camp exists her Son,
A Prisoner of War,
[*5/*] He fought with a thousand others,
From Gemas to Singapore
He heard the "Arties" whistle
And the Jap dive bombers roar
[*6/*] But the odds, They were terrific,
So we had to lay down arms,
We were either sold a woolly pup,
Or the Heads had well greased Palms,
[*7/*] But whatever was the reason,
We earned no disgrace,
We won't slink round the Corners,
But look men square in the face,
[*8/*] So Mother Mine take comfort,
And may God hear your Prayer,
But most of all may he hear mine
And keep you safe over there
2/
PETROL & CEMENT RACKET (Contd)
[*19/*] The Japs were fairly friendly
We bit them for some fags
Though sometimes they were out of Sorts
And proved themselves as snags
[*20/*] But with a spot of cadging
A noble manly Art
We often did delay them
In the time that we should start
[*21/*] A time wh there was when Jappo
Tried to make us sign Parole,
Proclaiming that we'd never try
escaping from this hole
[*22/*] The boys stood on their dignity
And wouldn't come across
So Jappo tried a little trick
To show them who was boss
[*23/*] He prisoned them in Barracks small
With standing room alone
The worst & cruelest punishment
That they had ever known
[*24/*] With not a spot of water to drink
Or Cleanse from grime
With just sufficient sleeping room
For a third of them at a time

1/
 — THE P.O.W. BLUES —

I've got the P.O.W. Blues,
Could complain, but what's the use
I'm wasting my time, in the Tropical clime,
With the P.OW Blues
I've got the P.OW Blues
No more Bully Beef or Stews
And each day thrice a plate of Rice
And the POW Blues.
Talking as some fellows do,
Who talk of shapely legs
I'd get more satisfaction
Out of a couple of Hard Boiled Eggs
I've got the P.O.W. Blues
Got no paper, Got no News,
In 12 more Months, & 12 more days
If the world forgets, its warlike craze,
I might get back to my civvy ways,
With the P.OW. Blues.

I've got the P.O.W. Blues
Got no money, Got no boose
Tiring of these Tropical Views,
Itching Arms, & cocoanut Palms
And the P.O.W. Blues.
Ive got the POW Blues,
Got no money, Got no Boose,
Got a Job, but thats a Blob,
With the POW Blues
When I think of feeds I've had,
Of Sausages & Mash,
I couldn't buy a Sausage,
Even if I had the Cash, 
Ive got the POW Blues
Worn out Boots, & worn in Shoes,
If all these things, that Rumours says
Are Partly true, I'm in a daze,
Time marches on its crazy ways
With the POW Blues.

BIRTHDAYS