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The Bevin Boys
Steve Jones
Lyrics
December 1943
The first ballot was drawn
With the optants and the volunteers
The Bevin Boys were born.
You got £3 10 shillings
Plus 25 for your rent
Gotta buy your own pick and shovel
Now that your days are spent
As a Bevin Boy
The Bevin Boys.
Miles away in Europe
Or a mile underground
Soldier or miner
You longed to be homeward bound
Descending in that cage
Risking your life everyday
Say hello to the pit pony
Unlike him at least you get out
At the end of every day
As a Bevin Boy
The Bevin Boys
Known as the underground army
48,000 strong
But if you think they were treated like heroes
Let me tell you,
You’d be wrong.
Called up- sent down
To risk your life underground
The war for you it ended late
They wouldn’t let you out till 1948
No recognition for 50 years
Let’s hear it for the Bevin Boys
We owe so much to the Bevin Boys
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