Composed by Neil Krog
[Verse 1]
Winnipeg Grenadiers felt the December wind off the China Sea as it
Cut through the bones of Company D Boys from the prairies, cold and wide
Now jungle hills where the shadows hide
They sailed from home with a soldier’s grin
Said “It’ll be over before it begins”
But the guns woke up on a blackened dawn And the Empire’s line was nearly gone
[Verse 2]
They dug in tight at the mountain pass Wong Nai Chung where the dead grass sways Orders came through like a whispered prayer
“Hold this ground—no one leaves here”
They heard the thunder of boots below Rising fast through the smoke and glow Outnumbered ten to one or more
But prairie boys don’t run from war
[Chorus]
Oh Company D, stand your ground
Where the jungle screams and the shells rain down
From Winnipeg streets to a foreign grave You held the line, you did not break
Oh Company D, the world may forget But the hills still echo your last stand yet
[Verse 3]
Lieutenant’s voice cut through the din “Fix bayonets—let ‘em come on in” And rifles cracked through the choking heat Till silence fell on broken streets
One by one they were overrun
No reinforcements, nowhere to run
The sky turned red, the day turned black And none of those boys were coming back
[Verse 4]
Christmas came in a prison yard Hungry men with their spirits scarred
Years went by in a distant cage Written in blood on history’s page
Some came home with a hollow stare Some still lie in the hillside there
Far from the snow and the Red River shore But they’re prairie sons forevermore
[Chorus]
Oh Company D, stand your ground
Where the jungle screams and the shells rain down
From Winnipeg streets to a foreign grave You held the line, you did not break
Oh Company D, the world may forget But the hills still echo your last stand yet
[Bridge]
No parade when the truth came clear
Just quiet names we don’t all hear
But the wind still blows through the poppy rows
And it carries the tale that Canada knows
[Final Chorus]
Oh Company D, carved in stone In a land so far from home Through fire and steel, through loss and flame
History whispers your forgotten name Oh Company D, you paid the cost For a battle fought—and a city lost
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