On Victory in Europe Day
On the eighth of May 1945
Amidst the happy throng
Outside Buck House
He was joyfully playing
“Roll out the Barrel”
On his trumpet
Whilst being perambulated
In a wheelbarrow
And that was how
Lt Humphrey Lyttelton
Inadvertently gave his
First ever performance
On the BBC
Which survives to this day
On the BBC news reels
When William joined the army
He struggled with some of the drill
But the thing he hated the most
Was when they said “fire at will”
On the home-front
Brave men and women
Gave their all
Granddad was a special
Mum was a WRAC
Her sister was on the land
Great Uncle Bill
Was in the home guard
Uncle Fred was in the ARP
Not everyone did their bit
But the majority rolled up their sleeves
Some did more than others
But everyone was under fire
Desperate years when days were dark
Some darker when sirens were sounding
When the scared fled to their shelters
While their Cities took a pounding
The bombing began
Cities were struck
With vengeance
Night after night
Shattering explosions of death
Shaking the ground
Delivering deadly destruction
Buildings fell to the ground.
Stones and bricks
Turned to shrapnel
As architecture was rent asunder
Death meted out indiscriminately
On the innocents
The mighty Luftwaffe
Had declared war on civilians
Theatres and churches
Schools and homes
Pubs and shops
All fell victim
Little was spared
In those terrible raids
Many British Cities
Still bear the scars
She was Russian born
But died as an agent for the SOE
In October 1943 “Madelaine”
Was betrayed to the Germans
And the SD Interrogated her at
84 Avenue Foch
Their HQ in Paris
Though she had the face of an angel
She fought her captors so fiercely
They were scared of her,
And treated her as extremely dangerous
After many escape attempts
She was transferred to Germany
After almost a year in captivity
She was taken to Dachau
Along with three other agents
And in the early morning hours
Of 13th September 1944,
They were shot in the back of the head
Their bodies then immediately
Burned in the crematorium.
As far as the British were concerned
She was only missing
And she was mentioned in despatches
It wasn’t until 1949
When she was posthumously awarded
A British George Cross and
A French Croix de Guerre with Silver Star.
She was French born
But died as an agent for the SOE
In June 1944 while on a mission
She was captured by the Germans
And the SD Interrogated her at Limoges
Then transferred her to 84 Avenue Foch
Their HQ in Paris
But with the Allies closing in
She was transferred to Germany
To be imprisoned at Ravensbrück
Along with two other agents
And In the early morning hours
In February 1945,
They were shot in the back of the head
Their bodies then immediately
Burned in the crematorium.
She was posthumously awarded
A British George Cross and
A French Croix de Guerre with bronze star
And the Médaille de la Résistance
The warrior fights in the knowledge
That death earns a
place in heaven
So when that blessed day should come
They feel an angel’s tender kiss
And pass in an instant to Elysium
Australian schoolmaster
Of Cornish stock
Turned reluctant
soldier to be
A veteran of the Great
War,
Galipoli, Messines,
Passchendaele,
Villers-Bretonneux,
and Amiens.
After the armistice he
was
A peace time
businessman
Remaining active in
part-time Militia.
Until the Second World
War,
When he led the
Australian and British troops
At the Siege of Tobruk
And at the Second
Battle of El Alamein,
Achieving decisive
victories
Over Rommel's Afrika
Korps
A strict and demanding
officer,
His soldiers
affectionately nicknamed him
“Ming the Merciless”,
Later simply “Ming”
After Flash Gordon’s
nemesis
He was a remarkable
leader
When ordered to hold
Tobruk
For 8 weeks and held
for 7 months
And it is widely
regarded to be the point
That Britain won the war
After six long years of battle,
Triumph came to the
side of light
When the scourge of
hostility ended
And Victory in Europe
Day began
With joyous revelling
and dancing
A new life for the
country began
Then as Victory night passed,
And daylight broke through,
The peace dawned anew
She was French born
But died as an agent
for the SOE
In July 1944 “Nadine”
She was captured by
the Germans
And transported to
Fresnes Prison in Paris,
Where she was
interrogated repeatedly
And brutally tortured
until August
She was then transferred
to Germany
To be imprisoned at
Ravensbrück
Along with two other
agents
And in the early
morning hours
In February 1945,
They were shot in the
back of the head
Their bodies then
immediately
Burned in the
crematorium.
She was posthumously
awarded
A French Croix de
Guerre with palm, an MBE
And was mentioned her
in despatches
When he landed on the beach at Salerno
The unsuspecting enemy
were met
By a signals officer,
with a pistol
In one hand and in the
other his trumpet
She was French born
But died as an agent
for the SOE
In June 1944
“Ambroise”
She was captured by
the Germans
After lengthy
interrogation
She was transferred to
Germany
To be imprisoned at
Ravensbrück
Along with two other
agents
And in the early
morning hours
In February 1945,
They were shot in the
back of the head
Their bodies then
immediately
Burned in the
crematorium.
She was posthumously
awarded
A Kings Commendation
for Brave Conduct
And a French Croix de
Guerre with bronze star
A French Chevalier de
la Légion d'honneur
And the Médaille de la
Résistance
She was French born
But served as an agent
for the SOE
In April 1943 “Lise”
Was betrayed to the
Germans
Along with her future
husband
Peter Churchill
And The SD
interrogated them at
84 Avenue Foch, their
HQ in Paris
Though tortured with
red hot pokers
They kept to their
cover story
That he was both her
husband
And Winston
Churchill’s nephew
Which seemed to do the
trick
With confirmation from
London
But she was condemned
to death in June 1943
But was transferred to
Germany
To be imprisoned at
Ravensbrück
The Churchill’s nephew
story stuck
And when the allies
got close
The Camp commandant Fritz
Suhren
Drove Sansom to the
allied lines
To surrender to the
Americans
Hoping to save his own
neck
Which didn’t work
Odette testified in
1946
At the Hamburg
Ravensbrück Trials
And he was hanged in
1950
Odette was
subsequently awarded
A British George
Cross, an MBE and
A French Chevalier de
la Légion d'honneur
Whether they may win or lose
Or
whether they think its right
Our
soldiers don’t get to choose
Which
wars that they fight
My Grandfather was a bit deaf
He couldn’t hear with
clarity
When Neville
Chamberlain
Declared our common enemy
He thought that
England had
Declared war on Jeremy
