Lady Astor and the Ballad of the D-Day Dodgers

in #canada6 years ago

July 10th, marked the 75th anniversary of Canadian troops landing in Sicily as part of the British 8th Army leading to the invasion of Italy.

The invasion of Sicily and Italy became what is often referred to as one of Canada’s forgotten wars. For eleven months the battles from there were front page news in Canada. Then Normandy happened. Italy disappeared from the public awareness. For the almost 93,000 Canadians who fought that long bitter campaign, it was all too present.

My dad and his brother both fought in that campaign. Dad in the Irish Regiment of Canada and my uncle in the Perth Regiment. My uncle was seriously wounded, dad would fight up through Italy and eventually be sent to serve in France, Holland, Belgium and just after the war ended, arrived in Germany.

While searching for the facts behind the story of the term “D-Day Dodgers” and Lady Astor I found two documentaries on the Italian Campaign on CPAC, Canadian Public Affairs Channel, a non-profit television service created by Canada’s cable companies.

The first one, A War of Their Own, From Sicily to Ortona, follows the 1st & 5th Canadian Division and the 1st Canadian Armoured Brigade as part of a force from 26 nations pitted against 20 German divisions. The weather and the terrain in was as much the enemy as the often crack German forces ordered to defend the country against all odds by Hitler. This documentary covers the period from the invasion of Sicily until the capture of Ortona.

The second part, The D-Day Dodgers, covers the push after Ortona to take the rest of Italy from the entrenched Germans. This segment also touches on several other aspects of the Italian campaign including: the formation and actions of what became known as the “Devils Brigade”, a combined American and Canadian special force; the Canadian Nursing Sisters; the effects of the Conscription Crisis and the effect the Italian campaign had on the victories at Normandy.

Narrated by the late Cliff Chadderton of War Amps Canada, and Normandy veteran who served with the Royal Winnipeg Rifles the two documentaries show stunning footage of the often horrific conditions the Canadians endured during the months between its start on July 10, 1943 and its conclusion on May 8, 1945.

Personal Connections

Watching the documentaries knowing that this was part of the war dad and his brother both fought in I found myself fighting allergies at several points knowing the footage I was watching wasn’t some movie set. It was footage taken by military units accompanying the troops.

In the part where it talked about the ships carrying nursing sisters into Italy being sunk by the Germans, there was yet another personal connection. The first time I ever walked into the Legion branch I’m a member of I met a couple who were both WW2 veterans. He was with the engineering corps and she was a nursing sister.

As we sat getting to know each other she asked me what outfit dad served with. When I responded “Irish Regiment of Canada” she immediately instructed (and I do mean instructed) me to find out what troop ship dad had gone into Italy on. I found out and when I told her, we became instant friends. Seems that dad was on the ship that had plucked her and her companions out of the Mediterranean after the Germans had sunk them. That lady, Voreen “Buff” Jack would start and run the Christmas hamper program I now look after.

Seeing glimpses of what dad would have experienced gives me a greater appreciation for who he was. Life growing up with dad wasn’t a picnic. He mellowed a lot as he aged, but clearly those war time experiences shaped a lot of what I experienced of him as a child. Considering what he went through before he was even 20 years old, life with him could have been worse, much worse.

Turning a Lemon Into Lemonade

It was from dad I first heard the story of Lady Astor and the D-Day Dodgers. When he told the story, Lady Astor is the protagonist who hurled a slur at the guys fighting in Italy and they turned it into a term of pride through a ballad sung to the tune of a popular German war song “Lili Marlene”.

Who Was Lady Astor?

Lady Nancy Astor was born Nancy Witcher Langhorne in Danville, Virginia on May 19, 1879. Her father was a slave owner who lost his business and wealth during the American Civil War. He managed to rebuild after the war which allowed Nancy to live a life of privilege.

She married in 1897 when she was 18 to Robert Gould Shaw II. The marriage was not very happy, apparently her husband was an alcoholic. They had a son together before she divorced him in 1903.

After enjoying a visit to England her father suggested she and her sister Phyllis move there to live. Which she did in 1905. She soon started to come to the attention of British society largely for her rather unorthodox ways of speaking her mind.

She married into the British aristocracy but to a man who had also been born in the United States and then migrated to England at age 12. She married Waldorf Astor in 1906. They had four children.

Her often outspoken ways and attitudes eventually led her into politics. She was first elected as an MP in 1919 and would serve until 1945. She represented the Conservatives. She was stridently anti-Catholic and anti-Jewish. Some felt she was a communist yet she leaned toward the Nazi party as she saw it as a way to deal with the ‘jewish problem’.

The claim that she called those fighting in the Italian campaign “D-Day Dodgers who were avoiding the real war in France”, was denied by her and no official record exists of her having made the statement either in Parliament nor outside of it. The belief persisted earning her the disdain of veterans of the campaign.

When the bulk of material support for the Allies and in the case of Canada even reinforcements were sent to Northwest Europe after D-Day, the bitterness over the term rose. In time, that anger became the fuel for a song set to the tune of the very popular tune “Lili Marlene”.

The Ballad of the D-Day Dodgers

Although the Scottish poet Hamish Henderson is often credited with writing the original poem, he collected the various versions of it after the war and published them. Lance-Sergeant Harry Pynn with the 78th Infantry Division in Italy is credited with the writing.

Here is a rendition of the Canadian version:

Here are the lyrics:

The Ballad of the D-Day Dodgers

We’re the D-Day Dodgers out in Italy –
Always on the vino, always on the spree.
Eighth Army scroungers and their tanks
We live in Rome – among the Yanks.
We are the D-Day Dodgers, over here in Italy.

We landed at Pachino, a holiday with pay
Jerry brought a band out, to cheer us on our way
Showed us the sights, and gave us tea
We all sang songs, the beer was free
We kissed all the girls in Napoli.
For we are the D-Day Dodgers, over here in Italy.

The Moro and Ortona were taken in our stride
We didn’t have to fight there. We just went for the ride.
Anzio and Sangro were all forlorn.
We did not do a thing from dusk to dawn.
For we are the D-Day Dodgers, over here in Italy.

On our way to Florence we had a lovely time.
We ran a bus to Rimini right through the Gothic Line.
On to Bologna we did go.
Then we went bathing in the Po.
For we are the D-Day Dodgers, over here in Italy.

Once we had a blue light that we were going home
Back to dear old Canada, never more to roam.
Then somebody said in France you’ll fight.
We said never mind, we’ll just sit tight,
The windy D-Day Dodgers, out in Sunny Italy.

Now Lady Astor, get a load of this.
Don’t stand up on a platform and talk a load of piss.
You’re the nation’s sweetheart, the nation’s pride
But we think your bloody big mouth is far too wide.
For we are the D-Day Dodgers, out in Sunny Italy.

When you look ’round the mountains, through the mud and rain
You’ll find the scattered crosses, some which bear no name.
Heartbreak, and toil and suffering gone
The boys beneath them slumber on
They were the D-Day Dodgers, who’ll stay in Italy.

So listen all you people, over land and foam
Even though we’ve parted, our hearts are close to home.
When we return we hope you’ll say
“You did your little bit, though far away
All of the D-Day Dodgers, way out there in Italy.”

Like many veterans, dad rarely spoke of the war or his experiences. I didn’t even know dad was a veteran until I came across his medals tucked in a drawer when I was putting laundry away one day.

I think one thing he never had to share was that it changed him forever.


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This is so good! Thanks.... I learned few things.

Okay, I teared up reading this. You did everyone proud with this post that is more than a mere post.

Thank You for finding out the truth of it all and sharing with me too!!

This is an amazing story. Thank you so much for sharing it with us. I sent you a little gift from dustsweeper -- on the theory that every little bit helps.

Great write-up. We can never give our soldiers enough thanks. Thanks to them and the sacrifices they made, we enjoy the freedom we have today. My father was a veteran too with the regiment out of Carleton Co. New Brunswick. I did a story about Dad , his brother and cousins who served overseas. I might shorten it and post it on Steemit for Remembrance Day, Nov 11.

sounds like an excellent idea as a way to remember him... not that you don't every day.

This excellent post was included in the latest issue of The Inbox Runneth Over. Stop by when you have a minute and see what else I found along the trail. Your companions here are all interesting in their own way, and your support for this project and especially its occupants would be very much appreciated. Thank you for everything. Have a lovely day!

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