Ops are On
Title
Ops are On
Three Cheers for the Man on the Ground
Description
Dedicated to the men of the ground crew, the image showing these men at work
Creator
Date
1942
Temporal Coverage
Spatial Coverage
Language
Format
One printed sheet with one b/w printed image
Publisher
Rights
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
MHowardHF1158144-210727-01
Transcription
Ops are On [deleted word] [inserted] "LANCASTER" [/inserted]
[photograph]
Three Cheers for the Man on the Ground
Sykes, 1942
[italics] Wherever you walk, you will hear people talk,
of the men who go up in the air.
of the dare-devil way, they go into the fray;
facing death without turning a hair.
They'll raise a big cheer and buy lots of beer,
for a pilot who's home on leave;
But they don't give a jigger,
for a flight mech, or rigger
With nothing but 'props' on his sleeve.
They just say 'Nice day' and then turn away,
With never a mention of praise.
And the poor bloody erk who does all the work;
Just orders his own beer,
And pays!
They've never been told, of the hours in the cold
That he spends sealing Germany's fate.
How he works on a kite, till all hours of night;
And then turns up next morning at eight.
He gets no rake-off for working 'till take-off;
Or helping the aircrew prepare;
But whenever there's trouble, it's 'Quick at the double',
The man on the ground must be there.
Each flying crew could tell it to you;
They know what this man's really worth,
They know he's a part of the R.A.F's heart,
Even though he stays close to the earth.
He doesn't want glory, but please tell his story;
Spread a little of his fame around.
He's one of a few, so give him his due;
Three cheers for the man on the ground. [/italics]
[photograph]
Three Cheers for the Man on the Ground
Sykes, 1942
[italics] Wherever you walk, you will hear people talk,
of the men who go up in the air.
of the dare-devil way, they go into the fray;
facing death without turning a hair.
They'll raise a big cheer and buy lots of beer,
for a pilot who's home on leave;
But they don't give a jigger,
for a flight mech, or rigger
With nothing but 'props' on his sleeve.
They just say 'Nice day' and then turn away,
With never a mention of praise.
And the poor bloody erk who does all the work;
Just orders his own beer,
And pays!
They've never been told, of the hours in the cold
That he spends sealing Germany's fate.
How he works on a kite, till all hours of night;
And then turns up next morning at eight.
He gets no rake-off for working 'till take-off;
Or helping the aircrew prepare;
But whenever there's trouble, it's 'Quick at the double',
The man on the ground must be there.
Each flying crew could tell it to you;
They know what this man's really worth,
They know he's a part of the R.A.F's heart,
Even though he stays close to the earth.
He doesn't want glory, but please tell his story;
Spread a little of his fame around.
He's one of a few, so give him his due;
Three cheers for the man on the ground. [/italics]
Collection
Citation
E Sykes, “Ops are On,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed June 14, 2026, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/collections/document/42753.
Item Relations
| This Item | dcterms:relation | Item: Three Cheers for the Man on the Ground |