Here's the Traditional Ballad Index entry on this song:

Old Barbed Wire, The (I Know Where They Are)

DESCRIPTION: "If you want to find the privates, I know where they are (x3) -- They're up to their knees in mud (or: "Hanging on the old barbed wire"). I saw them...." Meanwhile, the captains, colonels, and generals enjoy themselves and stay away from the fighting
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: soldier war
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Sandburg, pp. 442-443, "Where They Were" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. "If You Want to Know Where the Privates Are" (1 text, 1 tune)
Niles/Moore, pp. 59-62, "If You Want to Know Where the Privates Are (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, BARBWIRE
Roud #9618
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Grouse, Grouse, Grouse" (theme of generals being safe while soldiers fight)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
If You Want to See the Captain
I'll Tell You Where They Were
NOTES: Internal evidence clearly dates this to the First World War, with its trenches and barbed wire and mud that threatened to swallow the Allied armies whole. Jerry Silverman includes it in his book Ballads & Songs of WWI, without indication of source. What's more, until WWI, officers -- including brigade and sometimes even divisional officers -- were expected to lead their men from the front. Only in the twentieth century did officers become so valuable that they were allowed to "lead" from the rear. But I know of no actual testimony to the song from soldiers of that war. - RBW
Last updated in version 3.3
File: San442

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We have two versions in the Digital Tradition. Here's the first one:

I'LL TELL YOU WHERE THEY ARE

If you want to know where the generals were,
I'll tell you where they were,
Yes, I'll tell you where they were,
Oh, I'll tell you where they were,
If you want to know where the generals were,
I'll tell you where they were,
Back in gay Paree!
(Spoken) How do you know?
I saw them! I saw them!
Back in gay Paree!
I saw them,
Back in gay Paree!

If you want to know where the colonels were,
Way behind the lines.

...the majors
Playing with the mademoiselles.

...the captains
Down in the deep dugout.

...the sergeants
Drinking up the privates' rum.

...the privates
Up to their necks in mud!

(From Dolph, "Sound Off")

It appears that the song was sung in the trenches early in World War I.
Perhaps with reference to the Battle of the Somme, a new verse was added
for British versions:

If you want to find the regiment
(If you want the old battalion)
...
I saw them, dangling on the old barbed wire.

Later still, this was combined with the previous verse and became:
If you want to see the Privates, I know where they are,
...
They're dangling on the old barbed wire.
(They are hanging on the front line wire)


There are many American and British versions. Some of the variations:
I know where they are (or were)
I know where he is

Our Seargent -
He is lying on the canteen floor
Clipping the old barbed wire.

Our Quartermaster - boozing on the Private's rum

Our General - miles and miles behind the Line

The Lieutenants - riding the Sergeant's ass.

The Privates may be "Up to (various body parts) in mud"

Sometimes: If you want the bloody general - etc

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Endless take-offs are possible:
If you want to find your husband . . .

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Some Books it's in:
Brophy and Partridge: _Songs and Slang of the British Soldier_, 1930
Lomax, Amer Ballads & Folk Songs, 1934
Carl Sandburg, American Songbag, 1927
JJ Niles and Douglas Moore, Illustrated by A.A.Walgren, Songs My Mother
Never Taught Me, 1929
EA Dolph, Sound Off, 1929
Roy Palmer, What a Lovely War - British Soldiers Songs from the Boer War
to the Present Day, 1990

J B Priestly, From Margin Released, 1962, observed that 'In the
trenches the troops would sing a wide range of songs, including the
marching songs, nonsense songs and other popular songs of the time. The
patriotic songs seem to be unknown.'

On record:
"If You Want to Find the Colonel", on Bob Davenport's "Postcards Home"
(Topic, c. 1977).
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Some other titles:
"I'll Tell You Where They Were."
"If You Want to Know Where the Privates Are"
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Contributors:
Eric Berge, J.J.Farrell, George Hawes, Sam Hinton, Tom Morgan, John
Moulden, Chris Ryall, Abby Sale, Paul J. Stamler

@Army @soldier @WWI
filename[ BARBWIRE
AJS
oct97

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And the second:

HANGING FROM THE OLD BARBED WIRE

If you want to find the Sargeant,
I know where he is,
I know where he is,
I know where he is.
If you want to find the Sargeant,
I know where he is,
He's drunk on the dug-out floor.

cho: I saw him,
I saw him,
Drunk on the dug-out floor,
I saw him,
Drunk on the dug-out floor.

If you want to find the Captain
He's off on a seven-day leave

If you want to find the Colonel
He's pinning another medal on his chest

If you want the old battalion,
We know where they are,
We know where they are,
We know where they are.
If you want the old battalion,
We know where they are,
They're hangin' on the old barbed wire.

We've seen them,
We've seen them,
Hangin' on the old barbed wire,
We've seen them,
Hangin' on the old barbed wire.


@Army @WWI
filename[ OLDBARB
AG
OCT98

I wish the DT could come up with a consistently correct spelling of "Sergeant."