In the cold grey light of the sixth of June
In the year of 44
The Empire Larch sailed out from poole
To join with thousands more
The largest fleet the world had seen
We sailed in close array
And we set our course for Normandy
At the dawning of the day

There was not one man in all our crew
But knew what lay in store
For we had waited for that day
Through five long years of war
We knew that many would not return
But all our hearts were true
For we were bound for Normandy
Where we had a job to do

Now the Empire Larch was a deep-sea tug
With a crew of 33
And I was just the galley-boy on my first trip to sea
I little thought when I left home of the dreadful sights I'd see
But I came to manhood on the day that I first saw Normandy

At Arromanches, off the Beach of Gold
'Neath the rockets' deadly glare
We towed our blockships into place
And we built a harbour there
'Mid shot and shell we built it well
As history does agree
While brave men died in the swirling tide
On the shores of Normandy

For every hero's name that's known
A thousand died as well
On stakes and wires their bodies hung
Rocked in the ocean swell
And many a mother wept that day
For the sons they loved so well
Men who cracked a joke and cadged a smoke
As they stormed the gates of hell