by Daniel Kelly – 2024

Dm                    C             G       Am
Dougie Therkelsen was 19, when he went to Tarakan,
C          G             Em           Am
To help General McArthur, take back  oil from Japan,
        G        Am               C      G    Am
In the 2nd / 4th Commandos, he would learn to be a man,
        C                 G            G        Am
But he fell upon the beaches, never to come home again.

        C            G        Em  Am
No he never came home, like so many more,
        C        G        C       G       Am
That lie there forever, on a far lonely shore,
        G          Am              G        Am
With family and friends left to carry the pain,
        C        G      Em                 Am
Of a son or a father, that won’t be home again.

Dougie came from Nanango, he joined in 1943,
With his parents George and Eva, a happy family,
He left it all behind him, because his country was at war,
But nothing can prepare a man, for what fate has in store,

It was in operation Oboe, that Dougie was cut down,
The Japanese were set to fight for every inch of ground,
Storming pill boxes with rifles, was a foolish way to die,
But orders they are orders, and a soldier don’t ask way,