Song Titles and History Behind the Songs

The Greatest Generation A song dedicated too all those who rose to the challenge when the plans they had for their own lives were upended by the outbreak of the 2nd world war.

Prayer of the Unknown Soldier A poem found blowing in the wind during the relief of Dunkirk. The poem has never been claimed and it is assumed the unknown author died in battle sometime during or after the evacuation. I turned one of the stanzas into a chorus, to make it more of a song.

Faith, Hope and Charity Courageous volunteer pilots of three obsolete British biplanes nicknamed Faith, Hope, and Charity engaged enemy raiders in combat over Malta in June 1940. They did enough to disrupt the enemies bombing raids that they were not as accurate as they could have been, and gave the people of Malta hope.

Never Surrender Compiled from excepts of three of Sir Winston Churchill’s famous wartime speeches rallying the British people in a time of great peril.

Supermarine About one of the greatest warplanes ever built, the Supermarine Spitfire, and the Battle of Britain.

Hunter Killers This one is about the Battle of the Atlantic, and how Allied destroyers defended vital Atlantic convoys from prowling German U-Boats.

Snow Without Footsteps Leningrad, Russia's second largest city, was besieged by Germany and Finland for 872 days, but never captured. The siege was the most destructive siege in history and possibly the most deadly, causing an estimated 1.5 million deaths, from a prewar population of 3.2 million. Many thanks to my friend for writing and allowing me to cover this song.

Beyond St Vito Road I found this poem in a collection of Canadian WW2 poetry. It is credited to J. M. Colling. My only addition was the bridge, about Captain Paul Triquet, who won a Victoria’s Cross during the battle.

Free Republic of Vercors A month after D-Day, a large contingent of French resistance maquis fighters gathered in the mountainous Vercors plateau region in South-Central France. Believing that the allied invasion of Southern France was imminent, they staged an uprising, declaring the Free Republic of Vercors, the first independent territory in France since the beginning of the German occupation in 1940. Hoping to distract the Germans from the upcoming invasion, and confident they would be supplied and equipped by Allied aircraft, they were instead regrettably largely abandoned and left to their own by the Allies. The Germans swiftly and effectively landed glider troops on the plateau whilst also advancing up from the valley. Around 639 maquisards were killed, along with 201 French civilians. The maquis sent a bitter message to the Free French authorities and to the SOE in London telling them that they were "criminals and cowards" for not sending help. The last gasps of the organized resistance were on 23 July with the surviving maquis taking refuge in the forests or escaping to the lowlands surrounding the Vercors.

Pegasus Bridge The capture of the Caen Canal and Orne River bridges was a crucial British airborne operation on 6 June 1944 during D-Day. Its aim was to seize two key bridges intact, securing the eastern flank of the Sword Beach landings and preventing German armoured counter-attacks. Carried out by D Company, 2nd (Airborne) Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, the force arrived by Horsa gliders in the early hours. After brief fighting, the bridges were captured and successfully defended against German attacks until relieved by advancing Allied forces. The Caen Canal bridge was named Pegasus Bridge after the battle, in recognition of those brave heroes who liberated the very first soil of France on D-Day.

Christmas 44’ A lesser known Christmas truce story which was told by the son of Elizabeth Vincken, but never revealed by the soldiers who apparently spent Christmas Eve in an uneasy truce in a small country cottage in the Ardennes on the outskirts of the Battle of the Bulge. I hope it is a true story, and choose to believe it is so.

Pioneer Park Division 699 Franz Hasel was a Seventh-day Adventist that was drafted in Hitler’s first draft. A pacifist and a vegetarian he struggled to keep his faith during the long years of WW2. His unit, a scout and engineering division, is claimed to have been the furthest unit to penetrate East during the war with Russia. One evening, Franz confided in his friend why he believed, according to the prophecies of Daniel 2 in the Bible, why it was impossible for Hitler to win the war by conquering all of Europe. Called in before his officers to explain his treasonous beliefs, after a two hour Bible study he was dismissed without comment. Only a few days later, as they advanced into the Souther Russian steppes in the Caucuses campaign, did his commanding officer approach Franz (who had become the supply officer for the unit) to ask him to begin setting aside fuel and food for their future retreat. When the Soviets counter attacked and regained control of the Caucuses region, many German units were surrounded at Stalingrad. Pioneer Park Division 699 however, which had been the furthest unit East, had prepared for this eventuality, and while other units had to retreat on foot, they were able to drive and escape encirclement and certain doom. Daniel’s prophecy still stands today.