No Money for the Widows

Chorus:
Come let me tell you of poor William Stones,
The bravest of men right down to his bones,
We should take all the Generals, who judged him so wrong,
And stand them where he stood that cold winter morn.

Verse 1:
They didn't want him in 1914,
So he stayed and he worked the south Durham seam,
But they used up their men and they wanted more,
So they gave him a rifle and they sent him to war.

Verse 2:
He joined with the men of 19th DLI,
And he served them with honour, he served them with pride,
In the trenches of France, they fought hard to hold,
They faced to the guns and did what they were told.

Chorus:

Verse 3:
Will kept his head through the fear and alarm,
So they gave him three stripes to wear on his arm,
When a brave man was needed everyone knew,
Will was the one who would carry them through.

Verse 4:
Flares lit up King's Crater, November twenty-third,
Guns like distant thunder, no one said a word,
Will and Lieutenant Munday were on forward patrol,
A shot came from the darkness and took a terrible toll.

Chorus:

Verse 5:
The Lieutenant lay dying before the enemy advance,
His rifle mechanism covered, Will could see just one chance,
He jammed it into the trench to slow them down,
And obeying Munday last order, he went to warn Mr Howe.

Verse 6:
Though he was scared and exhausted, Will made it back,
But he couldn't take part in the counter attack,
So they charged him with desertion and they took him away,
Though the charges were false, there'd be a high price to pay.

Chorus:

Verse 7:
At his trial many good men stood on William's side,
Though their defence was unchallenged, their pleas were denied,
With two comrades in arms who were wronged just the same,
They were taken and shot in King George's name.

Verse 8:
To all of those generals, for who war is a game,
We know where to look to attribute the blame,
For every man who was taken and shot at dawn,
Who from this world were so cruelly torn.

Chorus:

Post Script:

It's time to talk about Lizzie and the children she bore,
She was the wife of a soldier, who died in the war,
How he came to his end, she wasn't told,
So she didn't understand why she was treated so cold.

The country made provisions for brave widow's needs,
And the war left her alone with two children to feed,
So she went for her pension, which was her right,
But there's no money for the widows of men who won't fight.
There's no money for the widows of men who won't fight.
There's no money for the widows of men who won't fight.
There's no money for the widows of men who won't fight.

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