North Atlantic Squadron, The

DESCRIPTION: "Away, away, with fife and drum, Here we come, full of rum Looking for women to pat on the bum, In the North Atlantic Squadron." The singer tells of the hardship of the convoy routes, describes the battles, and complains about the available women in port
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1979 (Hopkins-SongsFromTheFrontAndRear)
KEYWORDS: sailor courting sex ship war bawdy
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Hopkins-SongsFromTheFrontAndRear, pp. 52-57, "The North Atlantic Squadron," "North Atlantic Squadron -- Standard Version," "West Atlantic Squadron," "Old Destroyer Squadron" (4 texts, 1 tune)
Tawney-GreyFunnelLines-RoyalNavy, p. 145, "The West Atlantic Squadron" (1 fragment)
Morgan/Green-RugbySongs, pp. 109-110, "The North Atlantic Squadron" (1 text)
Roud #10267
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Armored Cruiser Squadron" (form)
NOTES [218 words]: This is one of those songs, like "The Old Chisholm Trail," that can go on practically forever, with each verse more bawdy or scatological than the one before. That life on the convoy routes was difficult can hardly be questioned; for other songs on this topic, see "Destroyer Life" and the other various naval songs in Hopkins-SongsFromTheFrontAndRear.
Hopkins calls it "Easily the most famous of Canadian service songs." It is interesting that it is rarely printed. It seems clear that it was simply too hardcore for most anthologies. The big question, to me, is whether it is, properly, a Canadian song; most of the versions I know of are from Newfoundland.
Hopkins attributes his first, extremely long (30 verses!), version to the 116th Squadron, although he does not explain the suggestion. Roger Sarty, War in the St. Lawrence: The Forgotten U-Boat Battles on Canada's Shores, Penguin 2012, p. 93, says that this was a squadron based at Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, and describes it as having Canso (PBY Catalina) aircraft; p. 123 reports that it went into action in mid-1941. Sarty, p. 127, says that it was one of only two long-range reconnaissance squadrons in the Eastern Air Command, the other being Squadron 5, for which see "No. 5. Squadron Song," which also has more details about the Catalina. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.3
File: Hopk052

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