The Gatling's Jammed And The Colonel Dead,

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subtitled: How Bush Broke The Army

The sand of the desert is sodden red,-
Red with the blood of the square that broke;-
The Gatling's jammed and the Colonel dead,
And the regiment blinded with dust and smoke.
The river of death has brimmed his banks,
And England's far, and Honour a name,
But the voice of a schoolboy rallies the ranks:
" Play up ! play up ! and play the game! "



When the Mahdi force attacked at Abu Klea, the British were decimated. The action was the inspiration for Sir Henry Newbolt's Vitaï Lampada, which includes the lines: Jingoistic shite