Digital Tradition Mirror

The North Atlantic Squadron

(This score available as ABC, SongWright, PostScript, PNG, or PMW, or a MIDI file)
Pennywhistle notation and Dulcimer tab for this song is also available

The North Atlantic Squadron

cho: Away, away, with fyfe and drum,
     Here we come, full of rum,
     Looking for women to pat on the bum
     In the North Atlantic Squadron.

The firefighters have lots of fire,
They never, never seem to tire
Of pulling their hose, and pulling their wire
In the North Atlantic Squadron.

The service police are a bunch of sluts,
They should be hung up by their nuts,
A bunch of hicks from out of the sticks
In the North Atlantic Squadron.

Into the mess we go to sup,
A dirty plate, a dirty cup,
The cooks should fucking well smarten up
In the North Atlantic Squadron.

The wireless boys they fly so high,
I wish to hell that they would die,
Their da da dits give us the shits
In the North Atlantic Squadron.

When we were ten miles out to sea
The Pilot started buggery
His only joy was the wireless boy
In the North Atlantic Squadron.

The One Six One crew Number Four,
Went out one night to find a whore;
Their only hope was a nanny goat
In the North Atlantic Squadron.

When in Vera Cruz we touched,
We found that Kingston whores were such,
That when open wide you could put inside
The North Atlantic Squadron.

In Newfoundland when it got hot,
We used to fornicate a lot,
Only the fools would be pulling their tools
In the North AtLantic Squadron.

The native girls are all misfits,
They have no teeth, they have no tits,
No wonder they give us the shits
In the North Atlantic Squadron.

The sergeants they are on the bit,
Giving tbe ACs lots of shit.
After the war their throats we'll slit
In the North Atlantic Squadron.

In Gaspe it rained all the time,
The sun was never known to shine,
The fog was so thick you could set it in bricks
In the North Atlantic Squadron.

The officers they know fuck all,
As up the CO's arse they crawl.
What do they get but sweet fuck all
In the North Atlantic Squadron.

The civvies in the Ferry Command
Are always jerking off by hand.
They're the fucking scourge of this fair land
In the North Atlantic Squadron.

The Ferry Command from Montreal,
What do they bring but sweet fuck all.
Whatever the date, they're always late
In the North Atlantic Squadron.

The American boys we do admire,
They fly through shit and snow and fire,
They never never seem to tire
In the North Atlantic Squadron.

By Ottawa we're really stumped,
You know they are a bunch of cunts;
Their nuts should be nailed to the nearest stump
In the North Atlantic Squadron.

If I had a girl and she were mine
Upon her arse I'd paint a sign-
"Try this for size, it's really fine"
In the North Atlantic Squadron

The works and bricks are a bunch of pricks,
They feed the fire with wood and sticks;
They leave us all in a hell of a fix
In the North Atlantic Squadron.

The Northern Electric put up poles;
They should be shoved up their arseholes.
They stay inside when it is cold
In the North Atlantic Squadron.

The medical corps are a bunch of whores,
They should be hung up by their drawers.
They give you pills and you shit for hours
In the North Atlantic Squadron.

The fucking discips give us the pips,
All of them are full of shit.
From arsehole to breakfast they should be slit
In the North Atlantic Squadron.

The dear old WAAFs, I hope they'll come,
And then we'll pat them on the bum;
And in the bushes our work will be done
In the North Atlantic Squadron.

There was a girl from Montreal,
She spread her legs from wall to wall.
With every jump I made her call
For the North Atlantic Squadron.

The RAF are on the bit,
Giving Hitler lots of shit,
And after the war they'll talk about it
And the North Atlantic Squadron.

In Labrador we used to sit,
In the mess and shoot the shit,
With fuckall to do but swallow it
In the North Atlantic Squadron.

The boys from stores went out to piss,
Their streams and spray they went amiss-
They said that they could drown with this
The North Atlantic Squadron.

Those MT men are reckless birds,
They roar around like crazy turds.
They smash up trucks with very few words
In the North Atlantic Squadron.

The girls of Gaspe town are bags,
They always seem to wear their rags;
And if they don't, their pussy sags
From the North Atlantic Squadron.

A lazy crowd are the bastard clerks,
They piss around like a bunch of jerks.
They fuck around but they never work
In the North Atlantic Squadron.

The aircrew boys they all had chills,
They took some green artillery pills;
They shit from Yarmouth to Gander Hills
In the North Atlantic Squadron.

From Songs from the Front and Rear, Hopkins
Note: According to Hopkins, "Easily the most famous of Canada
     service songs", This seems to have developed from a WWI song
     The Old Destroyer Squadron. It seems to have been the
     original of Away with Rum.
     The North Atlantic Squadron was (probably) th 10 Bomber
     Reconnaissance Squadron, RCAF, which patrolled convoy routes
     in the North Atlantic. ACs are aircraftmen, or privates.
     Works and bricks is slang for building construction and
     maintenance workers. Discips are DIs. MT is motor transport.
     Artillery pills are service-issued laxatives. RG
RG

Thanks to Mudcat for the Digital Tradition!