The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #29808   Message #1479347
Posted By: Jim Dixon
06-May-05 - 09:31 AM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: Heroes of St Valery
Subject: Lyr Add: THE BEACHES OF ST. VALERY (Davy Steele)
This probably isn't the song that was asked for, but here it is:

Lyrics and notes from the website of 3 Pints Gone:

THE BEACHES OF ST. VALERY
Words & Music by Davy Steele

1) It was in 1940, the last days of spring.
We were sent to the Maginot line,
A fortress in France, built to halt the advance
Of an army from a different time.
But we were soon overrun, out-thought and outgunned,
Pushed further back every day.
But we never believed high command would just leave us,
So we fought every step of the way.

2) 'Til the 51st Highlanders found themselves on
The banks of the Somme one more time.
It still bore the scars of that war to end wars,
The old soldier's scars deep in their minds.
But we didn't stay long, for the Panzers rolled on
As the battle raged west t'wards the sea,
Until on June the 10th, when sapped of all strength,
We entered St. Valery.

CHORUS: And all I recall is the last boat leavin',
My brother on board waving and calling to me,
And the Jocks stranded there wi' his hands in the air
On the beaches of St. Valery.

3) So I huddled all night in a hammered old house
As the shells and the bullets rained down.
'Til just before dawn, our hopes were still strong,
For we moved to the beach from the town,
But the boat that had left on the day we arrived
Was the last one that we'd ever see,
An' with no ammo or food, we had done all we could,
So we surrendered at St. Valery. CHORUS

4) When I returned at the end of the war
From the Stalag where I'd been confined,
I read of the battles the allies had fought:
Stalingrad, Alamein, and the Rhine.
And with pride in their hearts, people spoke of Dunkirk,
Where defeat had become victory,
But nobody mentioned that Highland Division.
They'd never heard of St. Valery.

5) No stories, no statues for those that were killed,
No honors for those who were gone;
Just a deep sense of shame as though we were to blame,
Though I knew in my heart we were not.
So I've moved to a country I've come to call home,
But my homeland lies far o'er the sea.
I will never return while my memory still burns
On the beaches of St. Valery. CHORUS

[Davy Steele's father & uncle were members of the 51st Highlands. His father made it out on the last transport, but his uncle didn't. He was in a POW camp in Germany until the end of the war.]