The Men Who Built This Town Poem by Francis Duggan

They rest in peace forever the men who built this Town
But their names not on a memorial wall to honour their renown
And not one mention of them when we honour the dead
We glorify monarchs and presidents but nothing of them said.

They built the homes and factories and sweated for their every pay
But with the long forgotten dead forever they must lay
And they made this Town a better place to live in for us all
Yet their enormous contribution we never do recall.

To the men who built this Town tonight my toasting glass I'll raise
And though others of them don't wish to hear I feel obliged to sing their praise
Their ought to be a dead workers day to them a debt we owe
Though of their contribution to society far too few wish to know.

The heroic men who built this Town at rest forever more
They built the factories and the homes old Joe who lived next door
Was one of the men who built this town he died a year ago
A grand old bloke and one that I felt privileged to know.