The Songs We Sang

Jan 31

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Have fun with this post and please remember these anniversaries:

30 January – 75th anniversary of the 6th Ranger Battalion at Cabanatuan, P.I.

AND:

30-31 January – 75th anniversary of the 188th Regiment + elements/ 11th Airborne Division amphibious assault on Nasugbu Beach, P.I. in 1945

Thanks for the reminder of the proud anniversaries from my friend Matt Underwood, past Editor of “The Voice of the Angels”, 11th Airborne Division Association.

"To the Warriors Their Arms"

Released in 1959 and based on his book The songs we sang,  musician Les Cleveland accompanied by his group the D Day Dodgers released this collection of often very irreverent songs that were sung by New Zealand Servicemen during the Second World War.

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In World War Two, New Zealand sent two infantry divisions overseas and supplied a great many sailors and airmen for the Allied Forces. Though the war has been over for fifteen years, the songs are still with us.  Many of us have half-forgotten them; others will have heard only a few of them and these in a variety of versions – but all will listen to them with new interest, conscious that the songs speak with unfading humour and sentiment of difficult days, conscious too that they occupy a unique place in New Zealand music and folk-lore. they are sings that deserve to live again.

One of the…

View original post 988 more words

About GP

Everett Smith served with the Headquarters Company, 187th Regiment, 11th A/B Division during WWII. This site is in tribute to my father, "Smitty." GP is a member of the 11th Airborne Association. Member # 4511 and extremely proud of that fact!

Posted on January 31, 2020, in Home Front, Uncategorized, WWII and tagged , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink. 77 Comments.

  1. aussieian2011 | February 13, 2020 at 4:37 AM

    Greetings gp, back from my self imposed isolation after the last two months, life has been rather hectic over our way. An excellent reintroduction to your posts, and a great re post, one song particularly stands out that I recall being sung in my early days was The Good ship Venus, will not desecrate your post by posting my version, cheers mate.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  2. indianeskitchen | February 9, 2020 at 12:44 PM

    Music can be such a huge part of keeping your sanity! Thanks for sharing another great post!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  3. DC Gilbert | February 2, 2020 at 4:04 PM

    Great post! I’d love to see a version irreverent with U.S. World War II songs!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  4. Alexander Lautsyus | February 2, 2020 at 2:43 PM

    Even in such a harsh war time, songs and laughter helped to survive. Nice songs and post!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  5. warturoadam77p | February 2, 2020 at 10:23 AM

    Thanks for sharing. The songs were great!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  6. Anna Waldherr | February 2, 2020 at 3:08 AM

    And raise a glass to the All Blacks!

    Like

    Reply
  7. derrickjknight | February 1, 2020 at 3:07 PM

    I have read the original post and just listened to the first song at the moment. This is clearly and important collection. Will listen more tomorrow

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  8. jfwknifton | February 1, 2020 at 3:22 AM

    All of that New Zealand history is very, very, important, but I do hope that it is preserved in a more permanent way elsewhere, in some media more solid than the internet.
    How much wonderful research are we losing because it exists only in digital form?

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    • GP Cox | February 1, 2020 at 6:34 AM

      That is very difficult to answer, because so much of our Archives are constantly being declassified – is it all on the internet? That’s why I am constantly acquiring books on the subject. I have 3 more en-route as we speak. My “Library YTD” post is always being up-dated.

      Like

      Reply
  9. Liz Gauffreau | January 31, 2020 at 9:34 PM

    I really enjoyed the songs and, as Michael mentioned, the vintage artwork.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  10. Lavinia Ross | January 31, 2020 at 8:05 PM

    It’s good Les Cleveland collected these songs and published them, GP! I will come back and have a listen to them this Sunday. My father never mentioned any war songs from his time in the Marines, though I am sure they had them.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  11. John W. Howell | January 31, 2020 at 5:21 PM

    Fun stuff, GP. Thanks for the reblog

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  12. ktz2 | January 31, 2020 at 5:13 PM

    A friend of mine enlisted in the Navy during Vietnam, and somehow got stationed on New Zealand– for 2 tours ! Saw no action, and met his wife there. Lucky so & so ! It’s a beautiful country

    Liked by 1 person

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  13. Mustang | January 31, 2020 at 3:23 PM

    This is no admission, but had I ever been pissed, I might have looked like any of those guys on the book cover. 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  14. Bruce Goodman | January 31, 2020 at 3:14 PM

    Wonderful, thanks! I enjoyed every one!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  15. SCLMRose | January 31, 2020 at 2:49 PM

    Wonderful and entertaining posts! I played all of them and love the MY A.25 the best. Sounds like a biergarten song or an Irish jig. I remember the 11th Airbornne landing in Nasugbu as told by my father. My townpeople, my parents and I were evacuated by those soldiers to Taal.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    • GP Cox | January 31, 2020 at 2:51 PM

      I’ve been waiting for you to find this post – I had a funny feeling you’d enjoy the music and remember the anniversaries (being that they are part of the Philippine history!!). Did you play the songs for Matt?
      Have a great weekend, Rose!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
      • SCLMRose | January 31, 2020 at 3:00 PM

        Not yet. I was looking for your post yesterday. What happened?
        He’s been sleeping more lately and I’ve been so busy rearranging the house on my off hours. We got a new garage and I’m moving stuffs and I’m aching all over.
        Enjoy your weekend. It’s kind of yucky today. It’s raining!

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply
        • GP Cox | February 1, 2020 at 6:24 AM

          Things have been hectic and my Thursday post wasn’t ready. I wanted to reblog this post anyway – so …..
          There might be more reblogs as we progress further.
          Sorry to hear you have been doing so much manual labor moving things, perhaps there is a high school nearby and you could hire some students to help out?

          Liked by 1 person

          Reply
  16. Don Ostertag | January 31, 2020 at 12:28 PM

    Enjoyable reblog, GP. Thanks.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  17. Jacqui Murray | January 31, 2020 at 11:57 AM

    What fun. Music speaks volumes.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  18. Gypsy Bev | January 31, 2020 at 10:20 AM

    Thanks for sharing the music that kept the forces going. Again those New Zealand folks show the role they played in the war.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  19. shoreacres | January 31, 2020 at 9:39 AM

    What a great post. I listened to a few of the songs, and left a comment for him. Thanks for linking to his post!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  20. America On Coffee | January 31, 2020 at 8:46 AM

    Songs are a witness to history and tell us the stories! 🎶 🎼

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  21. Curt Mekemson | January 31, 2020 at 8:43 AM

    Reminded that music serves many purposes, G. –Curt

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  22. equipsblog | January 31, 2020 at 8:17 AM

    This is the comment I left on the Kiwi site. I figured you might enjoy it too I loved this post.

    Reminds me of the songs they used to play in the piano bars of the officers’ clubs my parents used to attend. One was the Datum, a bar close to the piers in Newport, RI. I never got to visit the Datum, only the main officer’s club for dinner. My parents bought home a Datum songbook and I memorized many of the songs. Not sure how I learned the melodies. Some of the songs were PG, not quite R. I think most of the piano bars petered out in the 1970s or early 1980s as the piano players and their followers went on that final Recon. I would love to find a copy of that songbook. Thanks for sharing this entertaining and informative post. Go Kiwis!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  23. OIKOS™-Publishing | January 31, 2020 at 7:45 AM

    Thank you, GP! I will save. I love these vintage art too. Have a beautiful weekend! Michael

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  24. beetleypete | January 31, 2020 at 6:58 AM

    Nice reblog, GP, and a fitting tribute to the brave Kiwis too.
    Best wishes, Pete.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply
  25. Dina | January 31, 2020 at 6:49 AM

    We have listened to the songs on Matts blog, that worked very well, but at the moment we are unable to like and comment his work coming directly from your blog. Sometimes WP can be terribly frustrating! Please say hell and how much we appreciate his work. x

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  26. Dina | January 31, 2020 at 6:46 AM

    Trust you to put a big smile on our faces, GP Cox! 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

    Thanks to Matt Underwood for this entertaining piece and to you for sharing this with us!

    Warm greetings from North Norfolk to our dear friend in Florida,

    The Fab Four xxxx

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  27. nitinsingh | January 31, 2020 at 6:34 AM

    Different,mood this time 🙂🙂

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  1. Pingback: The Songs We Sang — Pacific Paratrooper | Ups and Downs of Family History V2.0

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