Every Army has its own songs. The 29th Battalion went still further and evolved unit songs, many of which have since spread throughout the Third Division. In addition, numbers such as the Fijian melody, 'Isa Lei' have long become part of its tradition. Credit for most of the numbers printed in this section must go to the original 29th. Those that followed saw less and less to sing about. In common with all units of B Force, the standard song was the old British Army 'Bless 'Em All'—with variations! So bad did the variations become that instructions were issued to the 29th that anybody singing the unexpurgated edition except at smoke concerts and in the wet canteen, was 'for it'. It was always a source of annoyance to Padre Mitchell that a battalion which could shatter the air round Namaka or Samambula with 'tough' songs could hardly produce a cheep at church parade when hymns were being sung. At least one later padre took his singing as and where he found it—but hardly approv ed of a lot of it.

English Version

Isa Lei
Isa. ha. You are my only treasure
Must you leave me so lonely and forsaken?
As the roses will miss the sun at dawning
Every moment my heart for you is yearning.

Chorus
Isa Lei. The purple shadows fall,
Sad the morrow will dawn upon my sorrow;
Ah, forget not when you are far away
Precious moments beside dear Suva Bay.

Isa. Isa, My heart was filled with pleasure
From the moment I heard your tender greeting;
Mid the sunshine we spent the hours together—
Now so sweetly those happy hours are fleeting.

O'er the ocean your island home is calling.
Happy country where hours bloom in splendour;
Oh, if I can but journey there beside you
Then forever my heart will sing in rapture.

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'Neath Fijian Skies

'Neath Fijian skies, my love never dies,
To you, dear, I'll always be true;
With palm trees above and sweet words of love
I'll always remember you.
I'd exchange these Fijian nights of charm
For one moment, dear, with you in my arms,
And when I return to the kiwi and the fern
We'll never part again.

Bob Semple's Fusiliers

We are Bob Semple's soldiers, New; Zealand's infantry,
We'd fight for King and country, but they sent us to Fiji;
There's fighting on in Egypt, but it's safer here by far—
To hell with King and country, we'll defend the CSR.

There's flies and ants and toads here and bugs that bite at night,
You'd never think to see us now, that we'd come here to fight.
The worker stands behind us and buys beer by the jar
With money he is making while we save the CSR.

We're not much good with rifles, we've never fired a shot,
But as for pick and shovels, well we've used them quite a lot,
And although our ammunition is not quite up to par
We've lots and lots of leadheads here to save the CSR.

And while the war is raging we'll stay here safe and sound
So the mill wheels of Lautoka can keep on turning round,
And when the war is over in every hotel bar
You'll hear us tell the story how we saved the CSR.

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29th Battalion Songs

Red, White and Navy blue, and the Army and the Air Force, too,
We're fighting side by side, we're proud of you;
On land or sea or sky, as the bullets go whizzing by
You'll find the Twentyninth Battalion by your side.
Eyes right, buttons bright, bayonets to the rear,
We're the boys that make the noise, we're always full of GR-O-G;
We're the heroes of the night, we'd sooner drink than fight,
We're the heroes of Bob Semple's booziliers.

A little spot of mud fell out the sky one day,
It landed in the ocean ten thousand miles away;
When the army saw it, it looked so bloody bare.
That's just the place we're looking for—we'll send our B Force there.

So they sent up river gunboats, armoured cars and BH2,
And they sent the 29th from out the bloody blue;
And here we are to stay all day in a land that's so remote
That all we seem to say all day is, 'Where's that bloody boat?'

That Army In Fiji

Tune: The Martins and the Caugheys
Now gather round and I'll tell you all a story
Of an army in the days of '41;
While their comrades overseas
Fought and Killed their enemies,
They just waited while the battles all were won.

Oh, that army in Fiji, they were brave as brave coud be.
And they laboured with their shovels all day long,
But then they didn't know
That the savage yellow foe
Was advancing on them many millions strong.

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So each day they polished up their web and rifles,
And they did their drill with great efficiency,
Though they had no ammunition.
They were chock full of ambition,
So they waited in their camp beside the sea.

Oh, that army in Fiji, they were brave as brave coidd be,
As they dug their weapon pits down by the sea,
And though the water filled them
Just as quick as they could build them,
'Twos a comfort to the major and OC.

Though their rifles were of 1914 pattern,
And their lewis guns had fought at Waterloo,
And their air force had no Spitfires
And their rounds were mostly misfires.
They were out to show the world what they could do.

Oh, that army in Fiji, they were brave as brave could be,
And at last the bugle blew the raid alarm;
The Japs they heard were coming
And it set the lines ahumming,
With the army here the Japs could do no harm..

The officers they had to have a meeting.
Decided things were bad as bad could be;
To N.Z. they sent a cable,
Send as fast as you are able,
Ammunition for the army in Fiji.

Oh, that army in Fiji, they were brave as brave could be,
But, alas, that brilliant army is no more,
For the old New Zealand deadheads
Sent a ton of bloomin leadheads,
As they heard the army used them once before.

So that, army like this little song is ended,
But their name will always live in memory,
As a brilliant indication
Of lack of preparation
That's a byword in New Zealand's infantry.

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We are the Boys Just Drawn by Ballot

Composed by an officer of the original 29th in May, 1941, just prior to leaving for New Zealand, as a satire on the First Relief, 1st Section, which had just arrived.

Tune: We Are The Boys From Way Down Under.
We are the boys just drawn by ballot, sailing for Fiji,
Eighth Infantry Brigade they call us, sounds bloody awful to me;
BP's, Brigade and Samambula, too, we know we're mugs for coming here to you.

For we are the boys just drawn by ballot, eighth reinforcements are we

Lily white knees on Nandi Bay
The BP's will stay when we're away,
Defending the CSR as before
Like the 29th Battalion did in days of yore.

Note: BP's or Blood Pressure—Officers on the New Zealand Ternporary Staff who wore a scarlet pugaree.