They grouped together about the chief <br />And each one looked at his mate, <br />Ashamed to think that Australian men <br />Should meet such bitter fate! <br />And black was the wrath in each hot heart <br />And savage oaths they swore <br />As they thought of how they had all been ditched <br />By "Impregnable" Singapore. <br /> <br />In her vaunted place she squatted the sea <br />On a base that was Maginot bred <br />Her startled face looked up at the skies <br />To the enemy planes o'erhead. <br />Enemy planes; while ours were - where? <br />That cry we had heard before <br />Our hearts were wrung as it rose this time <br />From beleaguered Singapore. <br /> <br />She brought forth death as her eldest child <br />With defeat as her second son. <br />Then she hung a white flag out on a staff <br />To show that her task was done. <br />And sick with rage the Australians stood, <br />And God! how those Anzacs swore - <br />Bennett and all his men alike - <br />At the fall of Singapore. <br /> <br />Whose was the fault she betrayed our troops? <br />Whose was the fault she failed!? <br />Ask it of those who lowered the flag <br />At once to the mast was nailed, <br />Tell them we'll raise it on Anzac soil <br />With hearts that are steeled to the core <br />We swear by our dead and captive sons <br />REVENGE FOR SINGAPORE!<br /><br />Dame Mary Gilmore<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/singapore/
