His last sunrise shone in his eyes
as we readied, aimed and fired.
“Shoot straight you bastards!”“Breaker” yelled
as his life and time expired..
Handcock and Morant together lay
sightless eyes toward the sky.
The courts-martial had convicted them.
Kitchener ordered that they die.
How did I feel about this man
my bullet helped to slaughter?
This man who ordered Boers shot
without a written order.
I’d seen him fight, and bravely too
when Boers struck the town.
The prisoners had manned the line
and helped us hold our ground..
Now stretcher-bearers took their limbs
and bore them from the field.
So fast and secret were their deaths
There was no chance of appeal.
Australians had been killed by Scotch
to please the Dutchman Boers.
British men and Africans-
we were all just following orders.
Feb 1, 2012
Feb 1, 2012 at 8:41 PM UTC
His last sunrise shone in his eyes
as we readied, aimed and fired.
“Shoot straight you bastards!”“Breaker” yelled
as his life and time expired..
Handcock and Morant together lay
sightless eyes toward the sky.
The courts-martial had convicted them.
Kitchener ordered that they die.
How did I feel about this man
my bullet helped to slaughter?
This man who ordered Boers shot
without a written order.
I’d seen him fight, and bravely too
when Boers struck the town.
The prisoners had manned the line
and helped us hold our ground..
Now stretcher-bearers took their limbs
and bore them from the field.
So fast and secret were their deaths
There was no chance of appeal.
Australians had been killed by Scotch
to please the Dutchman Boers.
British men and Africans-
we were all just following orders.
Peter Handcock and Harry “Breaker” Morant were executed by firing squad on February 27, 1902 at Pietersburg, South Africa. They were convicted of war crimes which included killing 8 Boer prisoners and a itinerant preacher. This case was the subject of an excellent Australian film released around 1980.
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