The Anzac on the Wall By Jim Brown
I wandered thru a country town, ‘cos I had some time to spare,
And went into an Antique Shop to see what was in there.
Old Bikes and Pumps and Kero lamps, but hidden by it all,
A photo of a soldier boy … An Anzac on the Wall.
‘The Anzac have a name?’ I asked.
The old man answered ‘No’,
The ones who could have told you mate, have passed on long ago.
The old man kept on talking and, according to his tale,
The photo was unwanted junk, bought from a clearance sale.
‘I asked around,’ the old man said, ‘But no one knows his face,
He’s been on that wall for twenty years …. deserves a better place.
For someone must have loved him, so it seems a shame somehow.’
I nodded in agreement and then said … ‘I’ll take him now.’
My nameless digger’s photo, well it was a sorry sight
A cracked glass pane and a broken frame … I had to make it right!
To prise the photo from its frame I took care just in case,
Cause only sticky paper held the cardboard back in place.
I peeled away the faded screed, and much to my surprise,
two letters and a telegram, appeared before my eyes
The first reveals my Anzac’s name, and regiment of course
John Mathew Francis Stuart … of Australia ’s own Light Horse.
This letter written from the front … my interest now was keen;
this note was dated August 7th, 1917