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
Valiantly he fought
Against Zeppelins
And the Red Baron alike
A young man,
In the prime of life
Died an ironic death
When helping a new arrival
Achieve his first kill
He broke his own golden rule
And followed the stricken foe
To see it crash
And was shot down
By ground fire
Major Edward Corringham
"Mick" Mannock VC, DSO & Two Bars, MC & Bar (May 24, 1887
– July 26, 1918)
Valiantly he fought
Against Zeppelins
And the Red Baron alike
A young man,
In the prime of life
Died an ironic death
Not taken by the bullet
Or by the bomb
But by the Spanish flu
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)
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)
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In an outdated kite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)
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
With the RFC he flew
Over
the country that he knew
Defending
against the Zeppelin
Flying
in the air so thin
Then
in 1916 in the dark of night
He
attacked an airship in flight
Amidst
machine guns chattering sound
He
brought the beast to ground
The
first of his kind to do the deed
To
attack a Zeppelin and succeed
The
first Zeppelin kill in British skies
Robinson
victorious after many tries
Flt Lt William Leefe Robinson VC
(14
July 1895 – 31 December 1918)
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
