Origin of the song "Hurrah for the last man to die"
Was it a Civil War song?
I know it was sung in the movie "Dawn Patrol", but I have reason to
believe its roots are much earlier than either WW1 or WW2.

Hello.

The song began as a poem called "The Revel," which was written in
India in the mid-1800s by an Irish poet named Bartholomew Dowling
(1823-1863).   Alfred Domett (1811-1887) set Dowling's poem to music. 
The song, with modified lyrics, gained popularity amoung pilots during
World War I.


Here is an excerpt of the lyrics sung in "Dawn Patrol":

'"So stand by your glasses ready, This world is a world of lies.
Here's a toast to the dead already, Hoorah for the next man who dies."
Dawn Patrol (1938)"'
http://www.mythworks.net/myth_war.asp


As luck would have it, the song was discussed in the July 2004 issue
of Air Force magazine:

"British troops were the source of many American military songs. One
classic is the pre-World War I song, "Stand to Your Glasses." It was
originally a poem titled, "The Revel," written by British Army Capt.
Bartholomew Dowling in India during the mid-1800s. Alfred Domett set
the poem to music?an 1834 Beethoven dirge.
 US airmen in World War I appropriated the song, changed the lyrics,
and called it "We Loop in the Purple Twilight." Several variations
were sung by American troops in the wars of the 20th century. (See ?We
Loop in the Purple Twilight," p. 80.)."
source: Air Force Magazine: July 2004
http://www.afa.org/magazine/July2004/0704songs.asp


According to the article, these were the original lyrics of the song.

"We meet ?neath the sounding rafter,
And the walls around are bare.
As they shout back our peals of laughter,
It seems that the dead are there.
Then stand to your glasses steady,
We drink in our comrades? eyes.
One cup to the dead already,
Hurrah for the next man that dies."


source: Air Force Magazine: July 2004
http://www.afa.org/magazine/July2004/0704songs.asp



The World War I airmen's version of the song was:

"We loop in the purple twilight,
We spin in the silvery dawn,
With a trail of smoke behind us,
To show where our comrades have gone.
So, stand to your glasses steady,
This world is a world full of lies.
Here?s a toast to those dead already,
And here?s to the next man to die."

source: Air Force Magazine: July 2004
http://www.afa.org/magazine/July2004/0704songs.asp


The text of Bartholomew Dowling's "The Revel: East India" is available
at Bartleby.com
http://www.bartleby.com/246/213.html

---------
search strategy:
"dawn patrol" "hurrah for"
"toast to * dead already" song
dowling "sounding rafter"

Thanks.

It was a great answer -- and so prompt.  Many thanks

Well done juggler! I was perusing this service of google for the first
time and found the original lyrics pretty affecting.