Far, Far from Ypres

DESCRIPTION: "Far, far from Ypres I long to be, Where German snipers can't snipe at me. Damp is my dugout, Cold are my feet, Waiting for whizz-bangs To send me to sleep."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1931 (Brophy/Partridge-TommiesSongsAndSlang)
KEYWORDS: soldier hardtimes | World War I
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Brophy/Partridge-TommiesSongsAndSlang, p. 58, "Far, Far from Ypres" (1 text)
Arthur-WhenThisBloodyWarIsOver, p. 70, "Far, Far from Ypres I Long to Be" (1 text, tune referenced)
Pegler-SoldiersSongsAndSlangoftheGreatWar, p. 307, "Far, Far from Wipers" (1 text, tune referenced)
Roud #10523
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Sing Me to Sleep" (tune)
NOTES [291 words]: Whizz-bangs were small shells fired by field artillery. Unlike large shells, they were fired at short range and on a low trajectory, so there was none of the sound of a large shell coming in at terminal velocity (which was much slower than the speed of sound). Whizz-bang shells arrived quickly -- at most, a short whistle (the "whizz") and then the explosion (the "bang").
The reference to Ypres being wet is entirely accurate. Ypres is in Belgium, not far above sea level, and attempts to dig trenches quickly hit groundwater. All World War I trenches were uncomfortable, but those around Ypres were among the worst -- especially on the English side; they held lower ground.
John Keegan, The First World War, Knopf, 1999, p. 178, quotes the experience of (I think) the 2nd Royal Welsh Fusiliers: "[The work was] On land where water lay so ear the surface it was often difficult to find earth solid enough to fill sand-bags, so during the following weeks the battalion toiled building breastworks out of liquid mud." Keegan himself adds, "Bit by bit, battalions like the... Fusiliers turned e British sector of the [Ypres] fron into a defensible and moderately habitable line. The Germans, whose decision to retreat from teh Marne to ground of their own choosing allowed then to avoid the wet, low-lying, overlooked sectors they left to their enemies, were better established."
Note that the song does not mention gas, even though the first use of gas on the Western Front was at the Second Battle of Ypres in 1915. And while Ypres was still utterly wet and muddy, the trenches were a bit better-built by then. That hints to me that this little piece was composed in late 1914 or early 1915, though I wouldn't bet much on that supposition. - RBW
Last updated in version 7.1
File: BrPa058B

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