Poem - Royal Navy Ode to Inveraray. The poem is handwritten possibly by Dave Blackburn. NOTE: There is a whole chapter on Combined Operations in the Regimental History. Attached to media is an internet page on the Combned Operations Training Centre at Inveraray, Scotland which operated from 1940 - 1944. Ode to Inveraray. Not everyone was enamoured with the virtues of Inveraray as this poem circulated around the Royal Engineers in Chamois Camp amply demonstrates! At the time Inveraray had a population of about 500 while the various training camps often had 15,000! To be fair to Inveraray it is thought that similar poems were written about many other remote locations only the name being changed n some cases. 1 This bloody place is a bloody cuss No bloody tram, no bloody bus And do they care for bloody us? In bloody Inveraray 2 The bloody films are bloody old The bloody seats are bloody sold Can't get in for bloody gold In bloody Inveraray 3 It bloody pours, it bloody rains No bloody kerbs, no bloody drains Ain't no-one got no brains In bloody Inveraray 4 Everything's so bloody dear A bloody bob for a bloody beer And is it good? no bloody fear In bloody Inveraray 5 All bloody work no bloody games No bloody fun with bloody dames Wouldn't even tell their names In bloody Inveraray 6 Enough of this ere bloody rhyme Everything's just a waste of time Next week'll be just "T" sime In bloody Inveraray. From the Album (Scrapbook) of Major W.D. Blackburn consisting of captioned photos and clippings from newspapers and magazines. The items are from Canada, England and Italy. He served in the Regiment from 13 August, 1940 to 12 February 1944. He commanded "C" Company in Italy.