SUVLA BAY AUST BALLAD

[jedd]

Hi

The underquoted song infers that a soldier was killed at the ANZAC Landings

"In an old Australian homestead with the roses 'round the door

A girl received a letter, 'twas a message from the war

With her mother's arms around her she gave way to sobs and sighs

And as she read this letter the tears fell from her eyes

Why do I weep, why do I pray, my love's asleep so far away

He played his part that April day and now he lies on Suvla Bay."

Although we now treat Anzac Suvla Helles etc as separate and distinct, would there ever have been a period when Suvla covered the whole Penninsula or Campaign?

[rcrawley]

Hi Jed,

I think the answer to your qn is no. When i read this ballad i think it infers that the soldier was present during the landings in April and then went on to die at Suvla (rather than specifically being killed in April).

It could always be that the person who wrote the song was misunderstood?

Hi

The underquoted song infers that a soldier was killed at the ANZAC Landings

"In an old Australian homestead with the roses 'round the door

A girl received a letter, 'twas a message from the war

With her mother's arms around her she gave way to sobs and sighs

And as she read this letter the tears fell from her eyes

Why do I weep, why do I pray, my love's asleep so far away

He played his part that April day and now he lies on Suvla Bay."

Although we now treat Anzac Suvla Helles etc as separate and distinct, would there ever have been a period when Suvla covered the whole Penninsula or Campaign?

[montbrehain]

I mentioned this song in another thread. I reckon It had nothing to do with where the soldier died(if you see what I mean). It just fitted better than ANZAC cove. Poetic License on behalf of the writer I feel. And I was told on the other thread that the song was revisited in the second war and Suvla replaced by Suda. "MO"

Previously mentioned in a thread here

 

 

[jedd]

Thanks,

But... I had always thought 'that April Day' was his last.

I seem to remember that some of the early newspaper reports had mentioned "Suvla Bay". That might suggest that Anzac Cove etc had not yet been 'named' or gazetted, and so Suvla Bay could have been a genera, wider, 'locality'. Additionally, Eric Bogle stated in a 2002 interview that he knew they landed at Anzac, but was convinced that Australians connected Suvla Bay with Gallipoli [which also is a misnomer] so he settled for an easy rhyme.

[MartinWills]

There are a number of similar period references to Suvla Bay when the context is more probably ANZAC. I think we need to take a step back and remember that the "ballad" was written by a songster/musician rather than a military historian.

Interestingly I recently heard a recorded performance of this song which was duly described as "real" country music!

There is a vast range of Australian songs covering "ANZAC" penned at the time. Careful investigation of some will clearly show they are plagiarised versions of songs previously published and copyrighted in the UK

[jedd]

That is the very point that interests me. The songster/musician is more likely to be attuned to the public understanding and description of the location. The Official Histories etc may not have been written yet. So how did 'everyone' know about Suvla?. Eric Bogle confessed that he went for the easy rhyming option, but with the justification that it was akin to "Gallipoli".

The parody on copyrighted tunes is a fine tradition. Goodbye Dollie Grey is one of the most recognised melodies in Australia. The popular version goes "Good old Collingwood for ever, They know how to play THE game". Countless folk songs of varying quality have the instruction "Sung to the tune of ...."

[rodonisle]

I have writen documents from my grandfather's time at Gallipoli. One entry I read as dated 5 Oct using the term ANZAC to list location. This is only a few weeks after Suvla landing leading me to think ANZAC Cove was in use when the tunes about Suvla were penned. The press at the time of the Suvla landings may have made its name more known in England, what with Stopford being sacked and all.

As a song writer and vet of war, I have to side with the poetic license viewpoint. It is too bad that writers are usually more interested in the sound of their words than the truth they carry. I try.

I have even taken the liberty of re-doing Eric's fine song "And the band played Waltzing Matilda" to correct the historical errors. That makes it a true folk song, me thinks.

- Rod