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Normandy Orchards

by Tom Lewis

on Mixed Cargo (1999), Mixed Cargo: Grade A (1999)

They're building a camp on the cornfields at Arlingham, bulldozers churning, changing the land
Acres of tarmac and barbed-wire fences, Nissen huts sprout where the crops used to stand
Wide-eyed, young village-girls giggling and laughing, at tanks and transporters that darken the sky
Convoys of lorries with fresh faces peering out, so many young men come learning to die

They say you can still hear the village-hall band, grey, ghostly couples still glide round the floor
But Normandy orchards were waiting to welcome new partners for death in the mad dance of war

The ladies have started a "comforts committee" but Reverend John's more concerned about sin
Hughes at The White Swan is rubbing his hands a lot, watching the troops and the profits roll in
Eager young squaddies with overdone courtesy tipping their caps to the girls passing by
But too soon from school to be licentious soldiery, some of the young men come learning to die

Her mother would have a 'blue fit' if she knew about Lieutenant Johnson and walks in the wood
She's laid-down the law and she's always gone on about men being beasts, so a girl must be good
Even she'd smile at their clumsy propriety, her far too fearful and him far too shy
She might even pity his lonely bewilderment, one of the young men come learning to die

Peace came to Arlingham many long years ago, time passing by healed the scars on the land
Tanks on the village green only a memory, crops have grown back where the huts used to stand
Yet as I walk in the fields on a summer's night, by the wood's edge when the wind starts to sigh
I still hear their voices all rising in harmony, lost, wasted, young men come learning to die