On Their King’s Command

By Port Coquitlam Resident, Steve Smith

In a new railway town, where two tracks did split

On the western frontier along the Fraser and Pitt
 

A monger of fish, in a little wood store

A dog looking for scraps and a son at the door
 

For a city just born, three movies a week

As we laughed over Chaplin the world became bleak

 

The posters went up, and recruits made their pledge

With hopes to return from a world on the edge

 

From Westminster Junction they boarded the train

Steam east and get ready for a fight not in vain

 

In Europe they learned the realities of war

 As friends fell beside them through guns mighty roar

 

Canucks we laid iron across our great land

And then we laid more on our king’s command

 

And two men named Routley, proud father and son

They laid down the track, one mile after one

 

Young Harold from PoCo, to fight he was keen

Got held up in England till he was eighteen

 

For king and for country, through trenches and toil

The battle raged on, as men died over soil

 

The tide, it was turning by early eighteen

As the front lines pushed forward through field and ravine

 

The Armistice signed and no shots are heard

For those that survived it all seemed absurd

 

They call it a victory and counted the cost

As we showed our respects to the millions we lost

 

And as for our heroes, they both would return

A medal, near blindness, is what Thomas would earn

 

And Harold, still young, had much left to give

He helped make our city a great place to live

 

And then there are those we can only remember

We honour their service each year in November

 

From Westminster Junction they boarded the train

Then landed in Europe where so many remain

 

With work left unfinished they departed our land

And fought for our freedom, by their king’s command