The Surprise of San Angelo

In Italy, the German military leadership gave up ground at San Angelo. And with that, they once again placed the English and Americans and their allied forces, who drew the short straw this time, in a very unpleasant surprise. The German troops were already gone before the storming began. – May 16, 1944

What mourning and sighs now,
The Angelo-Americans,
We thought they were quite manly,
And considered them cranes“The Cranes of Ibycus” is a ballad written by Friedrich Schiller in the year 1797.,

Where what is happening at the moment
In the south of Italy
Forces me to sing a different song,
Yes, Englishman, you fail.

You have had at San Angelo
A huge setback,
The Germans are so
Extremely pleased about it.

And they enjoy it so much
On the radio and in newspapers,
That had to be really something,
You might be well advised,

That such an event should
Never happen again in the future,
Because to all the Krauts it was a blast
And priceless.

What happened at San Angelo?
So I hear you asking,
Has Germany there the British
Defeated so severely?

Was it so, it wouldn‘t be so bad
And not so terrible,
But fear runs through my bone and marrow,
I read today:

The British were in big misfortune
And were taken by surprise,
Because all the Germans were gone
When they launched their attack.

The Kraut had secretly and sneakily
Cleared the field,
The Brit came,and no one was there,
Look at him foaming with anger.

He had so much hoped for a fight,
And there was nothing to fight,
He was unpleasantly surprised,
That was unavoidable.

It was a heavy blow for him,
You can understand that,
But it was clever of the Krauts,
The Brits would have crushed them,

That Germany will use this war tactics
Even more frequently,
And he doesn‘t know how such misfortune
To evade effectively.

But when I look closer, I presume strongly:
In Washington and London
You will be when surprised like this,
Be quite amused.