Two old, retired generals
In the autumn of their
years
One was a French
Hussar
The other of the
Grenadiers
One spoke of conquering
Spain
The other one of India
One of conquering the
hun
The Frenchman of
Canada
The two men argued for
hours
People thought them
bonkers
But it was quite
innocent
They were just playing
conquers
The Airspeed AS.51 Horsa
Was a British World
War II
Troop-carrying glider
Used for air assault
by British
And allied armed
forces
Like other British
gliders
Of the Second World
War,
Gliders were named
After military figures
Whose name began with
H,
So it was named after
Horsa,
The legendary 5th
century
Jutish Conqueror of
southern Britain.
But on D-Day 1944
The Horsa showed
It was not a conqueror
But a liberator of
Europe
The General Aircraft
GAL.48 Hotspur
Was a military glider
Commissioned at the
behest
Of the then Prime
Minister
Winston Churchill
In order to transport
Airborne assault
troops into battle
The Hotspur was the
result
But its tactical
limitations
Meant it was only used for training
The General Aircraft
GAL. 49 Hamilcar
Was a large British
military glider
Produced during World
War II
Commissioned at the behest
Of the then Prime
Minister
Winston Churchill
In order to transport
Airborne assault
troops
And heavy cargo into
battle,
When completed
The Hamilcar was
capable
Of transporting heavy
equipment
In support of airborne
troops.
The glider could
transport
A single light tank
Or two Universal
Carriers.
Hamilcars were only
used
On three occasions,
But only in support
Of British airborne
forces.
They first saw action
in June 1944
Transporting anti-tank
guns
Assorted armoured
Vehicles
And Tetrarch light tanks
Into Normandy during
Operation Tonga
They were used in a
similar way
During Operation
Market-Garden
And finally in March
1945
During Operation
Varsity
When they landed in Germany
The Lockheed C-130 Hercules
Is a four-engine
turboprop
Military transport
aircraft
An uncomplicated work
horse
Take-offs and landings
Can be made on any
unprepared ground
And its uses are too
numerous to mention
In fact it would be
easier to list
What the Hercules
can’t do
The Waco CG-4A
Was the most widely
used
Troop/cargo military glider
Of World War II
Named the Hadrian
The English Electric Lightning
Was a supersonic jet
fighter
From the days of the
Cold War
Noted for its great
speed
The only all-British
Mach 2 fighter
And the first in the
world
Capable of Supercruise
Renowned for its
interceptor capabilities
The Lightning was the
best of the best
The Avro Vulcan
Was an RAF
Delta Wing strategic
bomber
And was the backbone
of the Uks
Airborne nuclear
deterrent
During a long period
Of the Cold War
It carried no
defensive weaponry
So had to rely on its
high-speed
And high-altitude
flight
To evade interception
Until the advent
Of Electronic
countermeasures
And although it spent
Much of its career
Armed with nuclear
weapons
The Vulcan was still
capable
Of performing
conventional
Bombing missions
A fact underlined
Very effectively in
1982
When it was used in
Operation Black Buck
During the Falklands
War
The Short S.25 Sandringham
Was a medium range
British civilian flying
boat
Converted from Shorts
Sunderland
And replaced the Short
Empire
Carrying passengers
and mail
Between Britain and
the British colonies
The Lockheed P-38 Lightning
Was a World War II
American fighter
aircraft
With distinctive twin
booms
And one central
nacelle,
Housing the cockpit
The P38 was nicknamed
The "fork-tailed
devil"
By Luftwaffe Pilots
It was the very
definition
Of versatility in fact
it had it all
And was in the thick
of it
From Pearl Harbour
To Victory over Japan
Day
The Short S.25 Sunderland
Was a British flying
boat
And Royal Air Force
patrol bomber
In the Battle of the
Atlantic
Hunting German U-boats
But it was capable of
more
Humanitarian missions
And took part in the
Berlin airlift
Was a medium range
Four engine monoplane
flying boat
Carrying passengers
and mail
Between Britain and
the British colonies
The Bristol Blenheim
Was a Second World War
British light bomber
It had an all-metal
stressed-skin
Retractable landing
gear
Powered gun turret
And variable pitch
propellers
State of the art at
the time
And cutting edge for
the RAF
But in truth it was no
match
For the German
Messerschmitt Bf 109
So its time as a front
line
Combat aircraft were
short lived
Was a British
transport plane
And was yet another
Avro aircraft
Derived from the
legendary
Lancaster heavy
bomber,
Which was used in
military
And civilian roles
Between 1943 and 1964
The Bristol Beaufort
Was a British
twin-engine
Torpedo bomber
Which saw service
With RAF Coastal
Command
And then the Fleet Air
Arm
Of Royal Navy
They were versatile
and not
Used exclusively as
torpedo bombers,
They were also
utilized with great effect
As conventional
bombers and mine-layers
However despite
distinguishing themselves
In the Mediterranean
And in the defence of
Malta
Their day in the sun
Was over all too soon
They were relegated to
a trainer
Until the war ended
1918 with the RFC he flew
Leaving behind the
land he knew
To fly against the
superior Hun
When he was nearly
undone
Above the Forêt de Mormal
15 against one mere
mortal
Barkers Snipe downed
three
But he was wounded
severely
He got the Snipe down
on the floor
But it was the end of
Barkers war
The Bristol Type 156 Beaufighter,
Affectionately known
as the Beau,
Was a British
long-range fighter
A successful reworking
Into a heavy fighter
Of the Beaufort
torpedo bomber design
Beaufighter is a
portmanteau
Of
"Beaufort" and "fighter"
But unlike the
Beaufort,
The Beaufighter had a
long career
And served in almost
all theatres
Of the Second World
War,
Firstly as a night
fighter,
Then as a fighter
bomber,
Eventually even
replacing
The Beaufort as a
torpedo bomber
The Avro 679 Manchester
Was a British heavy
bomber
Of the Second World
War
But it was an
operational failure
Due to its
underpowered
And unreliable
twin-engines
However it lead
directly
To the successful
four-engined
Avro Lancaster, which
became
The most successful
British bomber of the
war
The Avro 691 Lancastrian
Was a mail transport
And passenger aircraft
Used by Canada and
Britain
In the 1940s and 1950s
The Lancastrian was
basically
A modified Lancaster
bomber
And delivered people
and mail
As efficiently as
death
The white horizontal plume
Streams in its wake
Like a long grey ribbon
As the locomotive powers on
A truly romantic image
Of the great age of steam
The Avro Shackleton
Was a long-range
British
Maritime patrol
aircraft
Which came into
service
With the RAF in 1951
It was a distant
cousin
Of the legendary
Lancaster
Which evolved first
Into the Lincoln
And then into the
Shackleton
Its speciality was
Anti-submarine warfare
Then airborne early
warning
And search and rescue
It was finally retired in 1990
The Avro Anson
Was a British
twin-engine
Multi-role aircraft
Used by the RAF
Before, during, and
after
The Second World War
It was originally the
Avro 652
And was designed as an
airliner
But was quickly
redeveloped.
For a marine
reconnaissance role
Though was soon
rendered obsolete
As an operational
entity
It was saved from the
scrap heap
And became a
multi-engine
Air crew trainer
And remained in
production
Until 1952
The Short Stirling
Was the very first
British
Four-engine heavy
bomber
The RAF had in the
World War 2
It first entered
service in 1941
And had a very brief career
As an operational
bomber
Quickly being
surpassed
By the Halifax and the
Lancaster
Relegating the
Stirling
To second line role
But it still had a
significant
Contribution to make
First as a glider tug
And then as a resupply
aircraft
During the allied
invasion
Of Europe in 1944-1945
The Westland Lysander
Was a British army
Co-operation and
liaison aircraft
Which came into
service
Prior to the Second
World War
But when it became
obsolete
In the army
co-operation role,
Its exceptional
characteristics
Came into their own
The Lysander’s
short-field capability
Made it a natural
For clandestine
missions
Being able to land on
small
Unprepared airstrips
Deep behind enemy
lines
To place or recover
agents,
Particularly in
occupied France
The Handley Page
H.P.67 Hastings
Was a British
troop-carrier
And freight
transporter
The largest transport
plane
In the world in its
time
The Handley Page Halifax
Was a British
four-engine
Second World War heavy
bomber
Where it was soon
overshadowed
By the Avro Lancaster,
But the Halifax
remained in service
Until the end of the
war
The Vickers Wellesley
Was a British light
bomber
That was all but
obsolete
By the time the war
came
It was totally
unsuited
To the European air
war
Of the Second World
War
But the Wellesley
found a purpose
In the desert theatres
Of East Africa, Egypt
And the Middle East
The Vickers Wellington
Was a British
twin-engine
Long range medium
bomber
Known as “the Wimpy”
Designed originally
For daylight
operations
It was widely used
As a night bomber
In the early years
Of World War 2.
Before being displaced
As the bomber of
choice
By the large
four-engined
Heavy bombers like the
Lancaster
But the Wellington
Took on a new roll
As an anti-submarine
aircraft
It was the only
British bomber
To remain in
production
For the duration of
the war
And was first-line
equipment
From beginning to end
The Avro Type 694,
Was a four-engine
British heavy bomber
That never saw active
service
In the Second World
War
It was originally
designated
As the Lancaster Mk IV
But were renamed
As the Avro Lincoln,
Though it became
operational
Too late for World War
Two
It saw plenty of
action
In subsequent
conflicts
Until the Jet age
retired them
Two ships collided in Halifax harbour,
The Mont Blanc and the
Imo,
It was December 1917
And what the Nova
Scotian’s didn’t know
Was the French ship
was laden with explosives
And as it sailed the
straight from the sea
It struck the
Norwegian vessel
Causing it to explode
cataclysmically
Many Canadians were
killed
In Halifax Nova Scotia
1917
After the largest man-made
explosion
The world had ever
seen
Killed in battle, bloody axe in hand
The reward of the Nordic
warrior
Was for their souls to
spend eternity
Residing in the great
hall of Valhalla
They died beneath the eagle
On the battlefields
Rome
And were blessed after
death
To walk in the fields
of Elysium
