1942 with the Fleet Air Arm he flew
Leaving behind the
land he knew
To fly against the
superior Hun
When he and his
squadron were undone
Against the German
Krieg’s Marine
The pride of the
German Navy
And against that
determined enemy
His squadron fell into
the sea
Valiantly he fought
In an outdated kite
Against Battleships
And modern planes
alike
A young man,
In the prime of life
Fighting Superior
forces
He led his squadron
From the front
Attacking the Scharnhorst,
The Gneisenau
And Prinz Eugen
But were all shot
From the skies
Lieutenant Commander Eugene
Kingsmill Esmonde VC DSO (1 March 1909 – 12 February 1942)
Valiantly he fought
Against kite balloons
And the patrols alike
A young man,
In the prime of life
In two short months
In 1918
He wreaked havoc
On the enemy
He died in 1921
In an ironic death
Not taken by the
bullet
Or by the bomb
But in a training
accident
Flying a Sopwith Snipe
Preparing for an air
show
At RAF Hendon
Captain Andrew (Anthony) Frederick Weatherby Beauchamp-Proctor, VC, DSO, MC and bar, DFC (4 September 1894 – 21 June 1921)
Valiantly he fought
Against Balloons
And the patrols alike
A young man,
In the prime of life
Fought against
Superior numbers
Above the Forêt de
Mormal
Despite horrific
injuries
He won the day
And landed safely
Lt Colonel William
George "Billy" Barker VC, DSO & Bar, MC & Two Bars (3
November 1894 – 12 March 1930)
Stand silent
And bow your head
Remember with pride
All the fallen dead
Who paid the price
And for their nation
bled
Remember them
And wear the poppy red
Valiantly he fought
Against Germans
And the Turks alike
A young man,
In the prime of life
Diced with death
Not taken by the
bullet
Or by the bomb
He fought with
gallantry
And abject bravery
In one respect we have
I can proudly declare
A perfect
aviation record
We never left one
up there
1915 in the RNAS he flew
When Ferrijik Junction
came into view
He and Gilbert Smylie
were sent
And Into action they
both went
Under heavy fire
Smylie went down
In marsh land outside
of town
He set fire to his
stricken machine
And quickly set to
flee the Scene
Then davies with skill
and Gallantry
Landed in sight of the
enemy
Rescued his comrade
Smylie
And returned him to
safety
Vice Admiral Richard
Bell Davies VC CB DSO AFC (19 May 1886 – 26 February 1966)
The simple truth
Up in the skies
If a pilot messes
up,
Then the pilot dies
If a controller
messes up
Then the pilot
dies
1918 with the RFC he flew
Leaving behind the
land he knew
To fly against the
superior Hun
When victory after
victory he won
Between 8 August 1918,
And 8 October 1918
Twenty-six decisive
victories
Against determined
enemies
Despite suffering a
bad injury
He managed to land
safely
If you get into difficulty
During the flight
Then flying
the aeroplane
And getting it right
Is more important
Than radioing your
plight
To someone on the
ground
Who, no matter how
sound
Are incapable of
understanding it
Or doing anything
about it
With the RFC he flew
Over where the ill
wind blew
Defending the skies
from the Hun
Flying where battle
was done
Hazardous sorties over
the front
Avoiding enemies on
the hunt
Air Commodore Ferdinand
Maurice Felix West VC CBE MC (19 JANUARY 1896 – 8 JULY 1988)
Lord Kitchener said in his frustration
Of the indiscreet
Politicians and their lives
When you tell one of
their number a secret
They went home and
told their wives
With the exception of
David Lloyd George
Who went home and told
everybody’s wives
In an Armstrong Whitworth FK 8
West set off at dawn,
Along with his
observer,
To search for the
enemy
Through a hole in the
mist
They spotted their
concentration
Avoiding severe ground
fire,
Almost immediately
They came under attack
From seven German
fighters
West was hit in the
leg,
And his radio was
destroyed
Skilfully they fought
them off
Unable to make home
base
West landed behind
Allied lines
But despite his
injuries
And being in
excruciating agony
He insisted on giving
his report
Before receiving
treatment
And he lost his leg
When the Rohilla
Struck Whitby rock
On the Saltwick reef
In October 1914
The storm was so bad
The life boat
Could not be launched
From Whitby harbour
So the rescuers
grittily
Manhandled the
lifeboat
Over an eight-foot
seawall
And treacherous rocks
So it could be
launched
From the beach
On the first attempt
They rescued seventeen
On the second
Another eighteen
But in the second
attempt
The lifeboat was
damaged
Too badly to make a
third
The Douglas C-47 Skytrain
Or as the RAF
preferred the Dakota
Was a military
transport aircraft
A successful
development
From the civilian
Douglas DC-3 airliner
A valuable asset to
the Allies
During World War II
And like the Hercules
The Dakota’s uses
Were too numerous to
mention
And it would be easier
to list
What the Dakota can’t
do
On 30 October 1914
The hospital ship Rohilla
Sailed southerly
through
The stormy North Sea
Bound from Leith to
Dunkirk
To bring allied
wounded home
Around 4:00 a.m.
On that fateful morn
With the high seas
And storm force winds
Battering the ship
She struck Whitby
Rock,
On the Saltwick reef
South of Whitby town.
It was wartime
No landmarks were
visible
As blackouts were
observed
And aids to navigation
Were nonexistent
Although only 600
yards
From the safety of
shore
The fiercely blowing
gale
Hampered rescue
attempts
But the RNLI
persevered
And more than half
aboard
The stricken ship were
saved
The British Aerospace Sea Harrier
Was developed directly
From the Hawker
Sidderley Harrier
And was used by the
Royal Navy
Operating them from
Invincible-class
aircraft carriers
Informally known as
the "Shar"
The Sea Harrier
Served in the
Falklands War,
Both Gulf Wars and the
Balkans
In the aftermath
Of the sinking
Of HMHS Rohilla
In 1914
Amidst all the
plaudits
Medals and awards
For heroism and
gallantry
Was Captain Neilson,
Awarded the RSPCA’s
Bronze Medal
For his efforts to
rescue
The ship's cat
The Slingsby Hengist
Was a British military
glider
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
Hengist,
The legendary 5th
century
Jutish Conqueror of
southern Britain.
But on D-Day 1944
The Hengist showed
It was not a conqueror
But a liberator of
Europe
August 4th 1914
The world goes mad
And the Great War
Begins
The war to end all
wars
“It’ll be over by
Christmas”
So they promised
Instead there followed
Four years of death
The Hawker Siddeley Harrier
Is more popularly
known
As the "Harrier
Jump Jet"
And was the first
operational
Vertical take-off
aircraft
Its unique abilities
Made it easier to
disperse
An attack squadron
Away from vulnerable
sir fields
The Harrier is quite
simply
The most remarkable
Aircraft ever made
The whistles blew
And over the top
Went the company
Moving as one
Through the smoke
And strewn before us
Broken and bloody
In the Flanders mud
Lay the fallen,
Comrades all
Lifeless and cold
But on we walked
Each of us knowing
We might join them
soon
She was so proud of
him
When she saw him in
his uniform
He made such a
handsome officer
Like everyone she was
caught up
In the patriotic
fervour
She wasn’t concerned
about the war
“It’ll be over by
Christmas” everyone said
He would soon be home
again
So she revelled in the
beauty
Of her gallant hero
And she waved him off
to war
She was so in love
With her officer beau
and that moment lived long
In her memory
It was her last memory
of him
For the war wasn’t
over by Christmas
And he wasn’t home
again
Having won the war we struggled in peace
We lived those post
war days austerely
But truly believed it
was for the best
Despite feeling the
rationing severely
But out children
charged on into the sixties
And lived the decade
too cavalierly
What a stunning and fitting tribute
Well met at the Bloody
Tower
A Poppy Sea, marking
the toll
Levied at the eleventh
hour
Ceramic Poppies,
flower and stem
Placed so we will remember them
Put down your pen, write no more
Names on the honour roll
The count is done, praise God
Listen well as the peace bells toll
At last the bloodshed is at an end
Let’s lose no more friends or foes
During intense hostilities
All service
men and women
Pay with their
lives ultimately
Some will
pay all at once
But most make
payments
Over their entire lifetime
Thank God for little Belgium
Bravely
holding off the Hun
Mounting a
strong defense
So, no easy
victory was won
Gaining
time for their allies
And
maddening the Hun
A high
price had to be paid
By Belgian
mother and son
It was
called the rape of Belgium
When the
fighting was done
Pacifism is a noble ideal
A heartfelt
principle
Yet when
the foul poison
Of the Nazi
doctrines
Leached
into the world
An internal
struggle began
Was the
cause to defeat fascism
Greater
than pacifist principles
Many took
the position
War was the
lesser of two evils
But not a decision
taken lightly
As he climbed
Into the
landing craft
He was
afraid
But not of
death
Or of
injury
But of fear
itself
A paralyzing
fear
Rendering
him inert
Leaving him
unable
To do his
duty
But above
all else
His
greatest fear
Was that he
would
I don’t bitch and moan
About
growing old
To me it’s
a privilege
One which
was denied to so many
My fallen
pals
And the
countless foe
Those who
never left
The bloody
field
Or
succumbed to their wounds
Never to
return
To a
sweethearts arms
Or to sit
beside the home fire
So I bare
the pains of age
With
stoicism
And thank
all that’s holy
For my long
life
And the
fruits of longevity
And keep
the memory
In my heart
for all the fallen youth
Until I
re-join them
At the eleventh hour
On the
eleventh day
Of the
eleventh month
We heard
the generals say
You can go
home now lads
To the land
you’ve defended
Thank God one
and all
That the
madness has ended
Don’t pray to your God
When another
war begins
Because he
doesn’t like war
And he doesn’t
care who wins
