Old Tony

Old Tony is a man who does not say much Grey as a badger hard times he's been through Perhaps one of the last survivors living From the trenches in Europe of World War 2. From Blackpool an old coastal Town in England A hardy breed live by the Irish sea And Tony still a fit looking old fellow For one of eighty two or eighty three. He came out to Australia in the early fifties As he will tell you for the better life But it has been the rocky road for Tony Since the day he farewelled his young son and wife. His wife Beth and their five year old Jack died in a house fire Whilst Tony drove a Melbourne V line train His cross in life for him to bear is heavy He's been through years of grief and mental pain. He never re-married nor fathered more children And he is in his twilight years alone Yet he is one who does not seem unhappy Despite the many sorrows he has known. One of the few survivors of Europe's war trenches Many of his young comrades who fought by his side Did not return home when the war was over They now lay in a mass grave where they died. When he returned home from war in Blackpool in his honour There was a party and a street parade But he is long one of the war forgotten And the fame he earned for him did quickly fade. Poor Tony is a really nice old fellow And you'll not find a braver man than he He came to live in Melbourne in the early fifties From Blackpool in England by the Irish sea.