- Author
- Shipstone, H.B., Petty Officer
- Subjects
- None noted
- Tags
-
- RAN Ships
- HMAS Sydney II
- Publication
- March 1990 edition of the Naval Historical Review (all rights reserved)
By the Late Petty Officer H.B. SHIPSTONE. Lost in HMAS “SYDNEY”, November 19, 1941
Let me Live, O Mighty Master,
Through this War — Yet if I’m Slain
Tasting Triumph and Disaster
Joy, and not too much of pain,
Let me roam the raging waters
For a while, to Love and Laugh.
And when I’m beneath the Ocean,
Let this be my Epitaph.
‘There sleeps one who took his chances :
In that War-crazed, Tragic Hell,
Battled Luck and Circumstances,
Loved and Laughed, but Fought and Fell.
Victor then, He did no Crowing,
Wounded, then he did not wail.
Cursed and Swore, but kept on going,
Never let his Courage Fail.
He was Fallible and Human,
Therefore Loved and Understood
By his fellow Men and Women,
Whether Good, or not so Good.
Kept his Spirit Undiminished,
Had a laugh for every Friend.
Fought for Freedom, Till it finished,
Lived, Loved, Laughed, Until the End.’