He kissed the ground
He kissed the air
He waved to strangers on the shore
There greeting him as he arrived
In Weymouth from Dunkirk
The French arrived without their boots
From bloody fields in Normandy
Grateful to be saved
From death by tiny boats.
My mother stood above the rail
And saw survivors climb to land
From baby ships that risked their lives
To pluck the French from German hands.
But a girl of fourteen years
She still recalls as if last week
The soldier who threw this gift
A bracelet that she holds today
A dainty silver rose,
His precious chain, who knows
To an English girl in a Weymouth crowd
A Dorset rose today.
Why do we kill those we do not know?
Why to stranger do we throw
Our dearest charm in life?
To a young English girl who
Became my fathers wife.
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