Steam
Trawler William Humphries
In this Hebridean churchyard,
Lie two sailors killed at war,
Not in a famous battle,
But here off our own shore,
And searching through the records,
This is all that I could find,
All hands lost to a U-Boat,
In Nineteen Thirty Nine.
Steam Trawler William Humphries,
What happened that November day,
All hands lost to a U-Boat,
Thats all the records say.
They were under naval orders,
And from the fishing ports they sailed,
To partol our coastal waters,
And face the Western gales,
On the look out for U-Boats,
They steer they're way through the mines,
Not a job for fishermen,
But these were dangerous times.
Steam Trawler William Humphries,
What happened that November day,
All hands lost to a U-Boat,
Thats all the records say.
The cry of gulls and the crash of waves,
Are the only sounds I hear,
A long way from the noise of battle,
The danger and the fear,
And like me do you wonder,
What happened here in 'thirty nine,
To this boat of fishermen,
And that German submarine.
Steam Trawler William Humphries,
What happened that November day,
All hands lost to a U-Boat,
Thats all the records say.
Copyright Nick Allmark 2005