You were born outside of Liverpool in England.
The bank propelled your father left and right.
You told me about your boarding school adventures,
That magic world that lived in black and white.
You turned eighteen and enlisted in the Air Force
To fly Horsa gliders over enemy lines.
You never lost your wide-eyed joy of flying
And Hitler took that bullet just in time.
Expectations placed you at the ledger,
But your banker's life was never meant to be.
You weathered Granddad's English aspirations
And he set you sail across the Irish sea.
You always had your chin up to the sky,
Stood up straight with self-respect and pride.
You looked every single challenge in the eye,
But the hardest thing you ever did was die.
To Aunty Chris you were more than just a nephew,
Treasured like the son she never bore.
You stepped into the paper mill at Swiftbrook.
In your coat and tie you walked the factory floor.
When you went to Dr Dugdale's with a toothache,
You left there with a filling and a bride.
I love that photo on the steps at Christchurch:
"G.K.B., with Joan Margaret by his side."
You always had your chin up to the sky,
Stood up straight with self-respect and pride.
You looked every single challenge in the eye,
But the hardest thing you ever did was die.
Cranmer Road was your Irish family castle
Until the mill boss sent you on your way.
You bravely sailed the six of us to safety
From Southampton down into Port Philip Bay.
You were forty when you set foot in Australia,
Resourceful and relentless and near-broke.
You faced hardship like that acre of lantana:
Hacked it out by hand and sent it up in smoke.
You always had your chin up to the sky,
Stood up straight with self-respect and pride.
You looked every single challenge in the eye,
But the hardest thing you ever did was die.
"Don't grow old," you'd always tell your grandkids.
An ugly, early whiff of Waterloo.
Your life began the spiral into helpless
And this time there was nothing you could do.
All the finest stories have a champion
To step in when the darkest hour has come.
Your Saviour came and bore you safely over,
The hardest thing you both have ever done.
You always had your chin up to the sky,
Stood up straight with self-respect and pride.
You looked every single challenge in the eye,
But the hardest thing you ever did was die.
You looked every single challenge in the eye,
But the hardest thing you ever did was die.