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German troops singing while marching to war, 1914 Vintage Audio: My Old Iron Cross
Updated - Saturday, 6 September, 2003

Reproduced below are the lyrics to My Old Iron Cross, a song performed to the tune of The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo. The song was a great music hall success in Britain during 1915.

The song's most famous performer was Harry Champion; click here to listen to a version of the song performed by him in 1915 (MP3 format 437kb).

My Old Iron Cross

I'm the bloke that broke the bank at Monte Carlo,
I'm the hero of a dozen dirty night,
I went out in a submarine to give the Kaiser one,
It went off bang and up I went and landed in the Sun.
There I met the Kaiser and he said "I'm up the stick"
"If you get me out of here I'll treat you mighty quick".

Chorus
Oh my old Iron Cross, my old Iron Cross,
What a waste I do declare,
Over there in Germany they're giving them away,
You can have a dozen if you shout "Hooray"
The Kaiser said to me "Old Cock",
"My Kingdom for a horse"
I gave him the one missus dried the clothes on
And he gave me the old Iron Cross.

I've been busy as a bee at building trenches
But I stopped because I wore away my spade,
I'd been digging for a fortnight with the mud up to my neck,
My clothes all torn and tattered and I looked a perfect wreck.
All at once a thousand Germans shouted "Give us meat"
I gave them a sausage that I'd dug up for a treat.

Chorus
Oh my old Iron Cross, my old Iron Cross,
What a waste I do declare,
Over there in Germany they're giving them away,
You can have a dozen if you shout "Hooray"
The Kaiser shouted "Meat, meat, meat"
I gave him some of course,
Though he only had a nibble at my old ham bone
He gave me the old Iron Cross.

I was scouting 'round a place called Schemozzel,
With a thousand Russian lancers out for blood,
The officer commanding us had gone to get a drink,
So I sent the cabin boy for one in less than half-a-wink.
Then we stormed the trenches and we made the Germans run,
Captured several prisoners and missed the Kaiser's son.

Chorus
Oh my old Iron Cross, my old Iron Cross,
What a waste I do declare,
Over there in Germany they're giving them away,
You can have a dozen if you shout "Hooray"
The Crown Prince said "Oh don't go well"
"You fill me with remorse"
So I told him to get to Tipperary
And he gave me the old Iron Cross.

A "Dixie" (from the Hindi degci) was an army cooking pot.