When the playing of the bugle sent a shiver down my spine
When I felt a sense of duty and stepped up to join the line
A song was sung, my heart was young, the ship it sailed away
When my mother stood there crying and I had no words to say
When I wore my country’s coat of arms to pledge a solemn vow
I didn’t think they’d honour me a hundred years from now
When I landed in an ambush on that distant foreign shore
When I saw the bullets flying and I heard the canon roar
I turned my head, my friend lay dead, it happened so damn fast
When I made it through the mayhem of that terrifying blast
When I managed to survive that day…still I don’t know how
I didn’t think they’d tell the tale a hundred years from now
When the battle raged forever and adversity was rife
When the courage and the sacrifice were daily facts of life
As darkness fell, it seemed like hell, but mateship got us through
When nothing else made any sense… that’s the flag we flew
When thoughts of home revived my strength and wiped my bloody brow
I didn’t think they’d call me ‘brave’ a hundred years from now
When I felt a chill that morning – when my heart beat like a drum
When the captain gave his orders and I knew the time had come
No glory there, just pure despair, my best is what I gave
When they wrote ‘lest we forget’ upon the headstone of my grave
When, beside my cross, the children of the future stop to bow
My spirit will remain alive a hundred years from now
When the playing of the bugle sends a shiver down your spine
When you realise that your qualities are just the same as mine
From dreamtime land to coastal sand, the city to the sprawl
When the essence of my legacy unites Australians all
When Anzac legend shines a light on all who make that vow
With pride, the world will know their name a hundred years from now
Rupert McCall, OAM
