Roger Waters: When The Tigers Broke Free

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It was just before dawn

One miserable morning in black '44

When the forward commander

Was told to sit tight

When he asked that his men be withdrawn

And the generals gave thanks

As the other ranks

Held back the enemy tanks

For a while

And the Anzio bridgehead was held for the price

Of a few hundred ordinary lives.



And kind old King George sent Mother a note

When he heard that Father was gone.

It was, I recall, in the form of a scroll,

With gold leaf and all

And I found it one day

In a drawer of old photographs hidden away

And my eyes still grow damp

To remember His Majesty signed

With his own rubber stamp.



It was dark all around,

There was frost in the ground

When The Tigers Broke Free.

And no one survived

From the Royal Fusiliers,

Company, "C"

They were all left behind,

Most of them dead,

The rest of them dying

And that's how the High Command

Took my Daddy

From me.