An ode to the Daylighters of 106

An ode to the Daylighters of 106

Eleven verse poem or song concerning a daylight operation against the Gneisenau in Brest. Mentions Spitfire escort, Me 109. On return most aircraft were damaged by anti aircraft fire. Annotated 'Written by one of our sergeants'.

Two page typewritten document

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MWareingR86325-161005-38

[inserted handwritten] Written by one of our Sergeants. [indecipherable word] [/inserted handwritten]

[underlined] AN ODE TO THE DAYLIGHTERS OF 106 [/underlined]

‘Wingo’ Allen, and Wareing, and Paramore, we
Led the formation in boxes of three;
Setting a course almost due South West,
Our target? The Gneisenau residing in Brest.

After three hours flying – I’ll say at the most,
We met our Spitfires just on the South Coast,
And led on, with Waddo and Hemswell behind
To give the old Hun a bit of our kind.

With Erly as nav. we crossed the French Coast,
To help do our bit; and to keep up our boast,
To smash up old Adolf by night and by day,
In the R.A.F’s. own impeccable way.

In sixteen full minutes we saw not a sign
Of Jerry’s now famous ME109,
And by that time, in beautiful light,
The harbour of Brest came into the sight.

With no ‘dummy runs’ in view of the flak,
We dropped off our loads and made to come back;
But by then the fighters of much vaunted fame
Decided to come and join in the game.

The Boeings above us were ready to swear
The three of the Huns went out of the air,
Before the Spits came to chase off the rest
And let us get back – as how we knew best.

So we left the French Coast and came back to the land
Which needs no Gestapo to keep us in hand,
Back to the country we all love the best,
For a good cup of tea and a blooming good rest.

(continued overleaf)

[page break]

Still we kept tight formation though the danger had passed,
Until under our noses, came at long las
The welcome sight of our own aerodrome,
And they knew that all had arrived safely home.

But before that day’s flying was over and done,
We just let the camp know we’d had some good fun
By a formation shoot-up which every one saw
Midst wild imprecation and many a “Good Lor!”

Then when we checked up on the kites after landing,
We found that all of ‘em had had some rough handling,
From Jerry’s Ack Ack, although not too severe,
It put ‘em u/s for a day – never fear!

And when the next job of work comes our way,
(We don’t give a damn – either by night or day),
During our 200 we’ll just do our best,
Then hope we’ll all have a blinking good rest.

[centred] ---oOo--- [/centred]