The Rose of No Man's Land explained

The Rose of No Man's Land
Cover:Rose Of No Mans Land.jpg
Published:1918, 1945

"The Rose of No Man's Land" (or in French French: "La rose sous les boulets") is a song written as a tribute to the Red Cross nurses at the front lines of the First World War.

Music publisher Leo Feist published a version in 1918 as "La rose sous les boulets", with French lyrics by Louis Delamarre (in a "patriotic" format – four pages at 7by, to conserve paper). A version with English lyrics by Jack Caddigan and James Alexander Brennan was published by Jack Mendelsohn Music in 1945 (two pages). Herman Darewski and others also published versions in 1918 and 1945.

While the main published versions were for piano and voice, other versions were arranged for band, orchestra or male quartette. Mechanicals for the phonograph and player piano were also released.

English lyrics

Written by Jack Caddigan and James Alexander Brennan:

French lyrics

Written by Louis Delamarre:

References

In Jacqueline Winspear's novel "Maisie Dobbs", the title character sings this song to a group of badly disfigured veterans of World War I in England.In John Steinbeck's novel "East of Eden", Cal Trask sings a line of this song to himself while walking through Salinas.