Poetry - By/for/about aircrew

This is from Norman Franks' Beyond Courage which covers the Walrus ASR squadrons operating in the Med and surrounds. Written (in Nov '43) by 1st Lt Raymond F Harmeyer of the 309th FS, 31st FG who was rescued by F/S Reid and W/O Bradley of 283 Sqn in early March 1944. Without that background info, you can still tell it's written by an American flyer...:becky:

Written to B Flight Commander, 1st Lt Louis A Griffing from 1st Lt Herman A Goebbels, Peninsular Base Sect, Way Behind the Lines:

The B-Flight Blues

Now looka', Griff, and please heed my plea,
For I want a favor that's dear to me.
I know you'll kick and raise a fuss,
But 'till it's granted I'll be fit to bust.
So listen well and pay some mind
To the question, "When can I fly the Nine?"

Mark Five I'm called, in a spirit of jest.
But the Nine's the baby I love best,
For I figger I can't stay long alive
When I push the tit and get 285,
So I won't prang it, I'll be gentle and kind,
So how's about checking out in the Nine?

I don't neccessarily want to fly it to Rome,
I'd just like to play around in it here at home.
If Lard-ass and Stech can make it around,
Why, brother, anybody can get 'em off the ground.
So unlock your heart and open your mind,
And give the new boys a chance to fly the Mark Nine.

There was even a response:

OK, Hoiman, but first of all,
You've got to get on the f**king ball.
You've got to stop drinking that f**king wine,
Before you check out in the glorious Nine.

Apparently Harmeyer checked out in the Mk IX a couple of days later. I'm not a huge fan of the language in the reply - it's the easy way out IMHO - but I've included it to complete the story. Harmeyer ended the war with six confirmed (two on Spits), one probable and several damaged and flew in Korea. He earned a Silver Star, two DFCs and the Air Medal with 19 oak leaf clusters. Well done Reid and Bradley!

 

Though now I don't think this is for airmen .... but it was kind of soulful to me !!

Remorse

The Lord must have heard our cry of despair,
For rumors of leaving soon filled the air.
Orders came through to get ready to go-
We all were dead sure that this meant 'Frisco,
Barracks bags packed, what could be finer?
Then my God! A lighter instead of a liner.
Our dreams were all broken; oh cruelest of Fates!
When we landed at Munda instead of of the States.
Bomb craters and flies and all kinds of debris
Are known from a jungle so dense you can't see
It rains all the time, yet no drinking water,
Just mud, swamp, stink that rivals the slaughter.

Reminiscing about the thoughts I once had,
It seems to me now I must have been mad.
For in the deep blue Pacific not far away
Lies an island the Lord must have blessed one day.
The place which now seems like heaven to me, pal,
Is that lovely old stink hole called "Guadalcanal".


Thanks to " Hoppy "

Unknown Guadalcanal poems from WWII :: Lost Poetry Quotations :: The Poetry Archives @eMule.com

 

We've got threads for soldiers' and sailors' poetry as well, Annie, just in case you have more up your sleeve.

http://ww2chat.com/forums/land/206-poetry-about-soldiers-etc.html
http://ww2chat.com/forums/war-sea/205-poetry-about-sailors-etc.html