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St Valery

from Hard as Nails by Alex MacDonald

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about

This is the tragic story of the 51st Highland Division’s encirclement and capture at St Valery en Caux in Northern France in June 1940.

lyrics

ST VALERY

From the coal mines and the towns of Fife, and the crofts of Sutherland
From Dundee, Perth and Lothian and far Northumberland
From the jewelled islands of the west and the barley fields of Banff
To stem the Nazi tide, we crossed the sea to France
The Camerons and the Seaforths, the Sutherland and Argylls,
The Black Watch and the Gordons, from the lowlands and the isles
We’d always stand together when the worst came to the worst
The Highland Division, the gallant 51st

St Valery St Valery St Valery St Valery

From Dieppe to the Belgian border and on to the Maginot Line
We were under French command and the grand French design
But the grand design was bypassed, as we dreamt of hills and glens
The Germans invaded Belgium and came through the Ardennes
Cut off from the British Army, the 51st was lost,
Our orders to defend the Somme no matter what the cost
The harvest of appeasement was reaped now by all ranks
Our weaponry was useless against Stukas and Panzer tanks

St Valery, St Valery, St Valery, St Valery

Outmoded communication against the radios of the foe
Meant the French command gave orders about things they couldn’t know
Rommel’s 7th Panzers cut off retreat to the west
The Highlanders for once would come off second best
The Division was surrounded apart from a force called Ark
And from Le Havre some remnants managed to embark
But at St Valery the 51st made their last stand
There they stood their ground, outgunned and outmanned

St Valery, St Valery, St Valery, St Valery

The Royal Navy organised two hundred ships and boats
To rescue the Division with the enemy at our throats
We were running out of ammo and we hadn’t any food
But no ship or boat could get near, to reach us where we stood
The enemy’s guns on clifftops and their bombers in the air
And finally the fog came down and left us stranded there
Our history and our heritage said the Highlander never runs
But the 12th of June the order came to lay down our guns

St Valery, St Valery, St Valery, St Valery

Marched through France and Belgium to barges on the Rhine
To prison camps in Germany at the end of the railway line
But some would not submit and took every chance to escape
By boats and trains and other means and many a daring scrape
And the 51st was formed again and from Alamein to Berlin
We fought under Monty and we won through thick and thin
But in France he gave the order which no one could foresee
And on 1st September 44, we set St Valery free

St Valery, St Valery, St Valery, St Valery

Now you who guard your rights and love to criticise
To mock, debunk and ridicule all history as lies
Who deny the right to others that you yourselves enjoy
Your freedom of expression – but not for the hoi polloi
You wouldn’t have your freedom were it not for men like these
Who fought and died or suffered from torture and disease
In many a foreign field they fell when shells around them burst
The Highland Division, the gallant 51st

St Valery, St Valery, St Valery, St Valery

© Alex J MacDonald

credits

from Hard as Nails, released November 19, 2021
Alex MacDonald - vocals and rhythm guitar
Rob MacDonald - drums and backing vocals
Phil Onslow - bass
Cailean Morison - piano, organ and backing vocals
Donald Forsyth - lead guitar
Olivia Ross - fiddle

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about

Alex MacDonald Edinburgh, UK

Grew up in Kildonan Strath, Sutherland, where I loved the psalms and hymns and the old folk songs my father had learned from his drover grand uncle.Went on to Cash, the Clancys and Corries, Tom Paxton and Dylan. Started playing guitar and writing songs in my teens, but only started recording this century with my rock band sons! Either solo or with my band, I've played all over Scotland. ... more

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