Prior to the Remembrance Sunday service, Doug Pendergast, OCRSL President, was handed a poem written by 12 year old Ben Neubauer, a student at Malvern Primary School.
“The grade 6 students were set a project around Australians and war and Ben wasn’t sure what to do, so asked his grandmother, Kathleen. She asked if he would like to read her grandfather’s war diary which she had transcribed.”
Doug said that Ben read the diary and then talked further to his grandmother about his great, great grandfather, Harold Beckham who enlisted on the 20th April 1915 age 17, and had his 18th birthday on Gallipoli.
“Ben determined to write a poem that captured some of what is written in the diary and we were honoured to have him read the poem at the conclusion of our Remembrance Sunday Commemoration Service.”
Doug said that Ben’s poem shows a great understanding and a depth of dignity that moved us all and I am pleased that Ben is happy for us to reproduce it.
Yet I Charge On - An Original Poem by Ben Neubauer
I see bombs flying everywhere
Earth upturning leaving a musty smell
The sounds of gunshots ring in my ear
I feel the sweat clinging to my skin like glue
Yet I charge on
I see soldiers falling to the ground
Praying to god during their final moments
I feel the grip on my rifle tighten
I maneuver around the bomb shells glinting in the sun
Yet I charge on
I smell spent gunpowder wafting in the air
I feel my heart begin to pound
I hear the cries from soldiers, both sides suffering from war
I see the enemy trench only meters away
Yet I charge on
Today the poppies bloom
We understand that we don’t want war
Families mourn for their loved ones
They still live in our hearts
Yet we charge on
Lest We Forget