Story Behind the Song
A dedicated and heroic British nurse during the Great War (World War One) who was captured during her field duties. Her valiant efforts to save and smuggle maimed and crippled soldiers resulted in her execution by the German high command. Her name lives on in dedication to a beautiful mountain and lake in Jasper National Park, Alberta.
Lyrics
Johnny worked on the farms of the Alberta prairies,
And thrived in the land of his birth.
Then the war to end all wars, and adventure in Europe,
he signed up to prove out his worth.
He advanced with the charge through the barbwire and cannons,
Pressed on with his proud bravery,
When the ground exploded in his tracks, he just floated . . .
Right down in the mud and debris.
Jerry fought for the Kaiser, when wars made us wiser,
In the trenches near Alsace-Lorraine.
He dreamed of the Rhineland and a fraulein so fine,
But a chest wound! He struggled in vain.
In a hospice, near Brussels, they awoke near each other.
"Thank God we're alive . . . " they did pray.
"I was sure I was a goner!" they agreed with each other,
Through a sweet British nurse there that day.
She cared for the wounded her heart to share,
The lucky ones there did tell.
Thanks and praise for a smile so rare,
The soldiers . . . survivors of hell,
At the feet of nurse Edith Cavell.
She calmed all the wounded wherever they came from,
She healed them and toiled with no fear.
In a German advance, she was caught and was questioned . . .
She was executed that year.
How could they know this fine lady so kind
Would be taken from them that way
The grief and the sorrow all man-kind would borrow
In tears, all the world did pray.
She cared for the wounded her heart to share,
The lucky ones there did tell.
Thanks and praise for a smile so rare,
The soldiers . . . survivors of hell,
At the feet of nurse Edith Cavell.
Johnny and Jerry saw Armistice come
Soldier's stories to tell.
Then it happened one day by chance two were there . . .
Two veteran survivors of hell . . .
In the world's most beautiful dell
At the foot of Mount Edith Cavell.
© 1999 John Spearn
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