Ode To Tom Starcevich

• Trent Starcevich, Grade 10
• Poetry
• 2014

Leslie Thomas Starcevich VC was an Australian digger,
He was a fearless Bren gunner, with a finger always on trigger.
He fought for the Allied forces in the horrid World War Two,
And strove to do what other soldiers ne’er discerned to pursue.
‘Twas during the engagement to secure the township Beaufort,
When Tom’s Company were assigned, to relieve and support
Friendly Allied soldiers with aplenty wounded men,
So the infantry departed, Tom equipped with his Bren.
The Nippon prepared an ambush, two machine-guns at the ready,
They awaited ‘til the Allies were close, keeping their barrels steady.
They levelled at the foremost soldiers, marching just ahead,
And awaited ‘til the Allies were close, targeting at their head.
The machine guns roared with ferocity, bullets hurtling all around,
Tom and his comrades dived down, down to the jungle ground.
Dual Oriental machine guns volleyed a chorus of death ‘n’ destruction,
For what Tom did now was pure heroism, need not for instruction.
Tom rose up to his feet, his Bren fixed firmly in hand,
And fired several warning bullets, as he began to stand.
The Japanese militia cowered, petrified of being shot,
But the enemy ammunition continued, hit, Tom was not.
Starcevich reached the machine gun nests, without so much as a scratch,
The Oriental soldiers were powerless now, for they had met their match.
Tom’s Bren fired numerous times, and entrenchments were now spent,
Private Starcevich was a legend, for many casualties he helped prevent.