Tipperary song is still marching 100 years on

It is 100 years since a little known music hall act wrote the song that became the marching anthem of the First World War, outlasting it to become one of the most popular songs of the 20th century, writes David Robson

AMONG the plethora of heartbreaking items in the archives of the Imperial War Museum is a dark purple-covered booklet so thin and small it will sit in the palm of your hand. Issued gratis during the First World War, it is called Songs Of Our Soldiers.

The foreword reads: “I hope the words of favourite songs that have shortened many a weary mile may increase that melody on the line of march, which is the expression of the buoyant spirits for which the British soldier has always been famous.”