One of my scouting friends also said the lyrics were misheard, but she thought the original was:

We all saw the forty second
We all saw them going to war
we all saw the forty second
marching through the brambles raw.
Some of the men had boots and stockings
Some of the men had none at all
Some of the men had boots and stockings
Marching through the brambles raw.

The song fascinated me because of the thought of all those poor guys trying to march in thorn bushes!