Vimy Ridge (In Memory Of Filip Konowal)

Things didn't go down as expected
Hill 145, ill-fated Vimy Ridge.
We are entrenched in mud as wild hogs, my 47th Battalion
A small wooded knoll we called "the Pimple" 2 miles in front of us
We need to capture the machine gun nests, each was heavily defended.

Thousands of wounded, thousands of dead
We're pinned down by the machine guns
Millions of shells were fired had not done damage
But Vimy Ridge will be in Canadian hands.

We've got straight orders:
Follow your lieutenant and if he dies follow your corporal.
Prepare to use grenades and bayonets
Don't lose contact with the fellow next to you
And for crying out loud, try not to die.

A freak snowstorm struck just as we started, but blizzard proved fortunate
Snow blinded heinies lost their courage, we captured trench by trench
We killed them as rats in the pit, some begging for help to the skies
More of the war now could be seen than from any other place in France.

Thousands of wounded, thousands of dead
We're pinned down by the machine guns
Millions of shells were fired had not done damage
But Vimy Ridge now in Canadian hands.