THE GLOSTER SEA GLADIATOR

 

The Gloster Sea Gladiator was a British

It is a single-seat biplane fighter

Operated by the Fleet Air Arm

And saw action in almost all theatres

During the Second World War

THE BELL P-39 AIRACOBRA

 

The Bell P-39 Airacobra was the principal

American Fighter when the USA entered combat

A small number were operational with the RAF

They soon reached obsolescence in Europe

And the remaining stock were sold to the USSR

THE BOULTON PAUL DEFIANT

The Boulton Paul Defiant was a British

Two-seat single-engine  turret fighter

Which served with the Royal Air Force

As a day and night interceptor fighter

It was nicknamed “Daffy” by pilots

By mid-1942 it was replaced by faster

Better performing night fighters, but

Continued to be useful in gunnery training,

Target towing, electronic countermeasures,

And air-sea rescue until the end of the war

LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SIR ADRIAN PAUL GHISLAIN CARTON DE WIART, VC, KBE, CB, CMG, DSO

Born: 5 May 1880, Brussels, Belgium

Died: 5 June 1963, Cork, Ireland

Belgian born Adrian Carton de Wiart

Was from an aristocratic family

But was educated in England

And was an officer in the British Army

He was a career soldier who served

In the Second Boer War, and India

During World War I he fought

In the Somaliland campaign

Battles of the Somme, Passchendaele

Cambrai and the Battle of Arras

Between 1918 and 1921

He was involved in the wars

Between Poland and the Soviets,

Ukrainians and Lithuanians

He retired from the Army in 1923

For the life of a Polish Gentleman

But after 15 peaceful years

World War 2 loomed large

And he fought with the Poles

During the German invasion

Before he was recalled to Britain

And soon had a significant role

In Britain’s Norwegian campaign

Then a brief spell in Northern Island

His next mission was to Yugoslavia

He flew from Malta after refuelling

But both engines failed, and they crashed

Off the coast of Libya and were captured

During his two years of captivity

He made numerous escape attempts

In the end he was released by the Italians

Two years later to act as an envoy

In prelude of an Italian surrender

Then at Winston Churchills behest

He was sent to communist China

During the Second Sino-Japanese War

As Churchills personal representative

And stayed until 1947 when he retired

Despite being offered a job

By the Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek

Carton de Wiart suffered numerous

Injuries by enemy shot and shell

During his long military career

To his head, face, stomach, groin,

Ankle, leg, hip and arms

And survived two plane crashes

He lost an eye and part of his ear

In the Somaliland campaign

And his left hand at the Battle of Ypres

In recognition of his distinguished service

His awards are as numerous as his scars

He was Mentioned in Despatches,

Received The Victoria Cross,

Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire,

Companion of the Order of the Bath,

Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George

Distinguished Service Order

The Polish Virtuti Militari,

The Belgium Croix de guerre

And the French Legion of Honour

And the Croix de Guerre

THE DAY DAD WENT TO BELSEN

 

The tank stopped abruptly

And we sat open mouthed

At what we beheld

Our brains could not assimilate

What our eyes were seeing

Great mounds of …. What?

It can’t be that.

All the horrors of war

We had witnessed, experienced

Since D-day

Did not prepare us

For what Belsen held in store

A place devoid of God

A place where even birdsong was banished

We dismounted and approached on foot

As each step brought us closer

Our worst fears were realised

We saw that the mounds were indeed bodies

Or something likened to bodies

Then I saw an androgynous figure

Stood at the fence

A dirty little bag of bones

Wrapped in dirty rags

Bony fingers clutching the wire

Like a birds feet gripping a trig

I reasoned it was a girl

As the rags might well have been a dress

“We are English” I said

“Don’t be afraid”

Her fleshless face was beyond gaunt,

Her shaved head little more than a skull

Her huge eyes were so black and deep

I could see into her soul

A weak smile played round her mouth

And tears welled up in her huge eyes

I would not have believed it possible

For her desiccated form

To have held enough moisture for tears

But they were there

And they ran down the grubby cheeks

Of the little bag of bones

And dripped onto her ragged dress

We ran to the gates

And forced them open

Then we stepped into the jaws of hell

More skeletal figure appeared

From amidst the piles of rotting corpses

Bemused and disbelieving

They hugged us, and thanked us

Some cried, some laughed

We gave them water

And fed them our rations

Not realising we were finishing

What the Germans had started

The food was too rich

For their weak emaciated bodies

What we didn’t realise

Was we were killing them with kindness

The girls name was Elise

She was the same age as me

But she died the next day

Her face with the huge tear filled eyes

Haunted my dreams

All of the days of my life

Penetrating my soul

And breaking my heart

My only consolation

Was that she at least knew kindness

Once more before she died

WHEN KITCHENER CALLED

When they hear the recruiter’s call

And they take the King’s shilling

They’re trained and uniformed

And marched towards the killing 

THE DOUGLAS DAKOTA

 

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