“There’ll always be an England….” by G.A. Crawford is one of two works by this soldier-poet in Robert Dickinson’s journal, “Servigliano Calling.”

We know G.A. Crawford to be George A. Crawford of London, as Robert recorded his address in the book.

There’ll always be an England….

In days of old, when ships like these
Sailed upon the sea,
The brave courageous tars aboard,
Kept old England free,
Names like Drake and Raleigh,
Nelson and Hawkins, too,
These were the men who made us,
Masters of the blue.

The spirits of these men still live
To haunt our ships today,
Inspiring the deeds of valour on,
“Rawalpindi” and Jeori’s Bay”,
And when our force is mustered,
Confident we can be,
The men aboard our ships today
Will be masters of the sea.