Nov 302022
The ANZAC – Bravest Thing God Ever Made

The ANZAC – Bravest Thing God Ever Made is the Australian Song which was written by Will Henry Ogilvie (1869-1963) Music by May Summerbelle. A marching song published in 1916.

The score included this heartfelt dedication:

“Dedicated to the Anzacs including my brother, W.R. Summerbelle, of the 1st Company, 1st Field Engineers.”

The skies that arched his land were blue,
His bush-born winds were warm and sweet,
And yet from earliest hours he knew
The tides of victory and defeat;
From fierce floods thundering at his birth,
From red droughts ravening while he played,
He learned to fear no foes on earth —
“The bravest thing God ever made!”

The bugles of the Motherland
Rang ceaselessly across the sea,
To call him and his lean brown band
To shape Imperial destiny;
He went, by youth’s grave purpose willed,
The goal unknown, the cost unweighed,
The promise of his blood filled —
“The bravest thing God ever made!”

We know – it is our deathless pride!
The splendour of his first fierce blow;
How, reckless, glorious, undenied,
He stormed those steel-lined cliffs we know!
And none who saw him scale the height
Behind his reeking bayonet-blade
Would rob him of his title-right —
“The bravest thing God ever made!”

Bravest, where half a world of men
Are brave beyond all earth’s rewards,
So stoutly none shall charge again
Till the last breaking of the swords;
Wounded or hale, won home from war,
Or yonder by the Lone Pine laid.
Give him his due for evermore —
“The bravest thing God ever made!”


Write a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *