My Boy Willie – RCACA Virtual Museum

The Official March of the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps is “My Boy Willie”.

The march was inherited from the Royal Tank Regiment (RTR) which is the oldest tank unit in the world, being formed in the British army in 1916 during the First World War. It is based on an old Worcestershire folk song and is believed to refer to the names of the first prototype tanks “Little Willie” and “Big Willie”.

The Royal Tank Corps adopted the march in 1923. The current military arrangement dates from 1944 and includes an adaptation of “Cadet Roussel”, a song from the Cambrai area of France. It was authorised as the official march for the RTR by HM King George VI in November 1946.

Regiments of the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps have their own individual marches, the exception being the Windsor Regiment (RCAC) which inherited the march from the 1949 redesignation of the Essex Regiment (Tank). “My Boy Willie” is also used as the march of the Armour School.

This rendition of “My Boy Willie” is performed by The Band of the Royal Corps of Signals.

My Boy Willie

Oh where have you been all the day
My boy Willie?
Oh where have you been all the day?
Oh Willie won’t you tell me now?
I’ve been all the day courting of a lady gay
But she is too young to be taken from her mother.

Oh can she brew and can she bake
My boy Willie?
Oh can she brew and can she bake?
Oh Willie won’t you tell me now?
She can brew and she can bake
She can make a wedding cake
But she is too young to be taken from her mother.

Oh can she knit and can she spin
My boy Willie?
Oh can she knit and can she spin
Oh Willie won’t you tell me now?
She can knit and she can spin
She can do most anything
But she is too young to be taken from her mother.

Oh how old is she now
My boy Willie
Oh how old is she now?
Oh Willie won’t you tell me now?
Twice six, twice seven
Twice twenty, and eleven
But she is too young to be taken from her mother.

Royal Canadian Armoured Corps Association History Website