The Roodee’s sons, the Sandbach lads, the men from every town,
Left tranquil fields and cobbled streets for honour and renown.
Across the oceans, far and wide, they answered duty’s call,
And found their fate in foreign lands, to stand or bravely fall.
From Flanders’ mud and Somme’s torn earth, where poppies grow so red,
The Cheshires held the line with pride and fought among the dead.
From deserts hot of North Africa, to Anzio’s cruel shore,
They faced the darkness of the guns and asked for nothing more.
At Mons, they met the coming storm; at Dunkirk, made their stand.
Through Europe’s bitter, frozen fields, they helped to free the land.
In jungles green of far Malaya, and Cyprus’s sun-baked ground,
The “Twenty-Second’s” measured tread gave out a certain sound.
The quiet walls of Chester hold the memory of their might,
And in the peaceful Cheshire lanes, they guard us through the night.
Their laughter echoes in the woods, their names on hallowed stone,
The brave and fallen Cheshires, we shall never leave alone.
So stand in silence, heads bowed low, beneath the fading sun,
And think of all the battles fought, the duty nobly done.
We will remember every one, the sacrifice they gave,
The steadfast sons of Cheshire, the fallen and the brave.
Copyright @Cheshire Military Museum.