Saturday, 25 February 2023

LIEUTENANT GENERAL SIR LESLIE JAMES MORSHEAD KCB, KBE, CMG, DSO, ED (18 September 1889 – 26 September 1959)

Australian schoolmaster

Of Cornish stock

Turned reluctant soldier to be

A veteran of the Great War,

Galipoli, Messines, Passchendaele,

Villers-Bretonneux, and Amiens.

After the armistice he was

A peace time businessman

Remaining active in part-time Militia.

Until the Second World War,

When he led the Australian and British troops

At the Siege of Tobruk

And at the Second Battle of El Alamein,

Achieving decisive victories

Over Rommel's Afrika Korps

A strict and demanding officer,

His soldiers affectionately nicknamed him

“Ming the Merciless”,

Later simply “Ming”

After Flash Gordon’s nemesis

He was a remarkable leader

When ordered to hold Tobruk

For 8 weeks and held for 7 months

And it is widely regarded to be the point

That Britain won the war 

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WHEN KITCHENER CALLED

When they hear the recruiter’s call And they take the King’s shilling They’re trained and uniformed And marched towards the killing