The Air Gunner

MStephensonS2714206-250122-02.jpg

Title

The Air Gunner

Description

Describes his pride in being a gunner and wanting to do his very best.

Language

Format

One printed sheet

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.

Contributor

Identifier

MStephensonS2714206-250122-02

Transcription

[Drawing – gun turret]
The Air Gunner
If I must be a Gunner
Then please Lord grant me Grace;
That I may leave this station
With a smile upon my face.

I may have wished to be a pilot,
And you along with me,
But if we all were pilots
Where would the Air Force be?

It takes GUTS to be a gunner,
To sit out in the tail,
When the Messerschmitts are coming,
And the slugs begin to wail.

The pilot’s just a chauffeur,
It’s his job to fly the plane;
But its WE who do the fighting,
Though we may not get the fame

But we’re here to win a war,
And until this job is done
Let’s forget our personal feelings
And get behind the gun.

If we must all be gunners,
Then let us make this bet;
We’ll be the best damn gunners
That have left this station yet!

Collection

Citation

“The Air Gunner,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed December 16, 2025, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/collections/document/56423.