Reported missing

Reported missing

Poem about aircrew reported missing

Two page handwritten document and two page typewritten transcription

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MNichollsJEK2011088-200201-11

[underlined] Reported Missing [/underlined]
We cannot celebrate the day we planned
You went on an op, but failed to return,
But I know we’ll meet soon though it wont be here,
I have a job to do & lots more to learn.
You can probably imagine me struggling away
Fighting for something beyond every grasp.
You trusted me, may I never fail
For I still feel your hand in that final Clasp.
They reported you missing, just those few cruel words.
But I knew you were living so I offered a toast
To a hero who couldn’t be present but flew,
To save for us the things we love most
[page break]
Don’t think we’ve forgotten we remember too well,
The glory of deeds too tremendous to tell,
I’ll lift my glass high & with tears in my eyes,
Will offer a toast “The freedom of the skies”
You would say Drink, & forget all the past
Live for today for not long will it last,
But I’ll drink to the future & wait, for soon
I’ll see your plane flying victoriously home
[page break]
[Royal Air Force crest]
Reported missing.
We cannot celebrate the day we planned,
You went on an Op, but failed to return
But I know we’ll met [sic] soon though it wont [sic] be here
I have a job to do & lots more to learn.
You can probably imagine me struggling away
Fighting for something beyond every grasp
You trusted me, may I never fail
For I still feel your hand in that [deleted] final [/deleted] [inserted] last final [/inserted] clasp.
They reported you missing, just those few cruel words.
But I knew you were living so I offered a toast
To a hero who couldn’t be present but flew,
To save for us the things we love most.
Don’t think we’ve forgotten we remember too well
The glory of deeds too tremendous to tell
Ill [sic] lift my glass high and with tears in my eyes,
Will offer a toast “The freedom of the skies.”
[inserted] [indecipherable sentence] [/inserted]
[signature]
[inserted] P.T.O. [/inserted]
[page break]
You would say drink and forget all the past
Live for today for not long will it last
But Ill [sic] drink to the future and wait, for soon
Ill [sic] see yiur [sic] plane flying victoriously home.