Impression sketch
of Flying Corps Officer crawling to pilots seat - by Jamie.
With
the fearless nature of youth,
That
has a tendency to try
Anything
new - were proof
Of
right stuff for the Flying Corps.
Such
were the type as those two
That
took off on a course -
At
10,000 feet into danger
Of
airspace to encounter enemy.
One
young flying Corps officer
Returned
a letter home,
To
tell of both their fates,
As
they flew in clouds to fight.
In
the front seat of the aircraft,
An
officer led challenge,
As
two German planes
Opened
up gunnery at them.
The
fight reached a stage, when
The
burst of a shell close by,
Shook
the craft - shrapnel
Burst
through the air past him.
Within
five, ten, twenty seconds,
The
craft fell, twisting
Down
to five thousand
Feet, the craft rocked as he looked.
The young
pilot Barnaby, aged 19,
Was
dead from shrapnel -
The
only thing he could do
Was
to reach the controls behind.
In
the swaying air he made a move,
And
climbed to sit on dead
Barnaby’s
lap to pull controls,
Levelling
out of that death plunge.
Cutting
out the engine the officer
Guided
the craft to ground -
Knowing
Barnaby's death
At
10,000 feet, gave him time to act.
Admitting
to his shock, the officer
Told
how he forget virtually
Everything
over two days -
When
captured in December 1915.
Such
can be the brazenness of youth
To
approach game combat
As a
sport - to meet victorious
To
shake hands in fight's conclusion.
In
meeting the English speaking
German,
he learned how
His
machine gun forced
Him
down - having shot petrol tank.
By
mutual English acquaintance,
Two
German officers,
Gave
him champagne
And dinner of oysters, in civil irony.
From
honour among pilots, perhaps
Knowing
shared dangers -
He
arrived at a prisoner
Of
war camp to share with officers.
The
observer concluded to say how
Playing
tennis and hockey,
With eight English officers
With eight English officers
Helped
cure shock; being well treated.
by Jamie Mann.
Anon.,1916. Thrilling Air Fight - Descent With A Dead Pilot. The Daily
Telegraph, [online] 15 January 1916.
P.10. Col.3. Available at:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12093316/Daily-Telegraph-January-15-1916.html
[Accessed: 15 January 2016].
Mann, J., 2016. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal
communication, 15 January 2016).
#WW1 #WW1centenary #GreatWar #WW1poem #GreatWar #WW1centenary
#worldwarone #worldwaroneremembered #WW1Aircraft
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