RAWENE BOYS
Julie Collier wrote a powerful song speaking of the sacrifice of small communities
as all their young men went to fight in the world wars.
"Rawene Boys" is in her 1988 collection, "Coming of Age".
RAWENE BOYS
The Hokianga Harbour waved goodbye to the boys,
who signed on for a war fought half a world away.
For King and for country
For God and the empire
They'd all come back to be heroes, the boys from Rawene.
They'd all come back to be heroes, the boys from Rawene.
Rawene sends her children to sail in ships of steel.
They called them The Fernleaves and believe the glory real.
Then came the fateful order,
"You'll take Gallipoli, lads.
You'll come back to be heroes, the boys from Rawene."
They'd all come back to be heroes, the boys from Rawene.
Let's not forget the glory of the british Empire,
the thunderous roar of Anzac guns.
Be proud there, mother, their fighting there;
Young Fernleaves on Chanuk Bair
Fernleaves on Chanuk Bair.
The boys took the hill that the Turks call Chanuk Bair
For two days they held: every trench, another day
"The chance to end all wars", the general proudly told them:
You'll come back to be heroes, the boys from Rawene."
They'd all come back to be heroes, the boys from Rawene.
A cold August morning in 1915;
the mist was on the harbour;
the constable had been.
A mother clutching her apron, reported missing in action:
They'd never come back to be heroes,
the boys from Rawene,
the boys from Rawene.
Lest we forget the glory of the British Empire
The thunderous roar of Turkish guns.
Can you forget now, mother, their planting there
Young Fernleaves on Chanuk Bair ... Fernleaves on Chanuk Bair.
I made this series of wrapped panels as a tribute to those brave men and their families.
A journey from the taonga of the Hokianga Harbour;
across the immenseness of several oceans;
to the heat and aridity of a foreign land.
as all their young men went to fight in the world wars.
"Rawene Boys" is in her 1988 collection, "Coming of Age".
RAWENE BOYS
The Hokianga Harbour waved goodbye to the boys,
who signed on for a war fought half a world away.
For King and for country
For God and the empire
They'd all come back to be heroes, the boys from Rawene.
They'd all come back to be heroes, the boys from Rawene.
Rawene sends her children to sail in ships of steel.
They called them The Fernleaves and believe the glory real.
Then came the fateful order,
"You'll take Gallipoli, lads.
You'll come back to be heroes, the boys from Rawene."
They'd all come back to be heroes, the boys from Rawene.
Let's not forget the glory of the british Empire,
the thunderous roar of Anzac guns.
Be proud there, mother, their fighting there;
Young Fernleaves on Chanuk Bair
Fernleaves on Chanuk Bair.
The boys took the hill that the Turks call Chanuk Bair
For two days they held: every trench, another day
"The chance to end all wars", the general proudly told them:
You'll come back to be heroes, the boys from Rawene."
They'd all come back to be heroes, the boys from Rawene.
A cold August morning in 1915;
the mist was on the harbour;
the constable had been.
A mother clutching her apron, reported missing in action:
They'd never come back to be heroes,
the boys from Rawene,
the boys from Rawene.
Lest we forget the glory of the British Empire
The thunderous roar of Turkish guns.
Can you forget now, mother, their planting there
Young Fernleaves on Chanuk Bair ... Fernleaves on Chanuk Bair.
I made this series of wrapped panels as a tribute to those brave men and their families.
A journey from the taonga of the Hokianga Harbour;
across the immenseness of several oceans;
to the heat and aridity of a foreign land.