The song sets up the story premise for "The Wall" movie, set over footage recreating the British contribution to Operation Shingle, where American and British troops landed on the beaches near Anzio, Italy, with the goal of liberating Rome from German control. These forces included Z Company of the 8th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers, in which Waters' father Eric served. As Waters tells it, the forward commander had asked to withdraw his forces from a German Tiger I tank assault, but the generals refused, and "the generals gave thanks / As the other ranks / Held back the enemy tanks for a while" and "the Anzio bridgehead was held for the price / Of a few hundred ordinary lives" as the German assault inflicted heavy losses including Eric Waters.