A memorial to Australians who died on the Western Front

‘You Never Came Home’ Article By Peter Barnes.
 
The video above, titled ‘You Never Came Home’, is a memorial to Australians who died on the Western Front, during WW1.
 
Around 300,000 Australians served on the Western Front during WW1.
 
From 1916 to 1918, 46,000 died and more than 132,000 were wounded. In this period of time, Australia lost nearly half of all the people killed in all wars. It was a shocking time for Australia with a population just under 5 million. There were not many families in Australia that weren’t touched by the tragedy of the Western Front.
 
Many soldiers were wounded more than once. About 11,000 soldiers have no known grave. Australian nurses caught trench diseases such as typhus and dysentery.
 
Many who came home died not long after due to suffering horrendous wounds and being gravely ill. Many were totally and permanently incapacitated with lost limbs, shell shock, blindness and severely disfigured.
 
The words ‘You never came home’, in a sense, tries to give some perspective from the loved ones of the soldiers. Many lived in hope for a while that their loved one was still alive, especially those who were reported missing on the battlefield. It was absolutely heart-breaking and unimaginable shocking times for many Australian families during this war.
 
I created and produced the video and also wrote the words for the video.
 
Here are the words to ‘You Never Came Home’…
 

You never came home

We will never see you smile again

We will never hear your voice

You went to war

You were brave

You were our nation’s best

But you never came home

We got the news that you were lost

And we lived in hope for a while

But as time passed

We knew

We will never see you again

The crowd waved and cheered

As you marched away

To a place no-one could imagine

Your name is remembered

Your sacrifice honoured

But we just wanted you home with us

The door to open and see you there

We thought we heard you near

But it was just the wind in the trees

A few of your mates did come home

But some were very unwell and died too soon

We wanted you to come home

To live

To love

And to be loved

But you never came home

 
“‘But we just wanted you home with us’. So tragic for the loss of young Men and Women. Poignantly presented with the storyline, and their photos. Lest we forget. Thank You , Peter.” – YouTube comment.

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About Peter

He is the owner of Business Advertising Online in Adelaide, South Australia, which has clients Australia wide.  The business has operated for fourteen years and creates effective websites and offers advice on how to be found online.

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