RAF Poem
Title
RAF Poem
Description
Untitled poem on joining up to fight. Men leave behind their identities to become aircrew. Submitted with caption; 'RAF Poem'.
Language
Format
One page printed document
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.
Contributor
Identifier
MPotterPL1878961-150914-30
Transcription
[anonymous poem]
Empty your pockets, Tom, Dick and Harry. Strip your
identity, leave it behind.
Lawyer, Farmhand, Mechanic, don’t tarry with your
own country with your own kind.
Leave all your letters, suburb and township.
Green Fen and grocery, slip-way and bay.
Hot spring and prairie, smoke stack and coal tip.
Leave in our keeping while you’re away.
Tom, Dick and Harry, plain names and numbers,
Pilot, Observer and Gunner depart
Their personal litter only encumbers
Somebody’s head, somebody’s heart.
Empty your pockets, Tom, Dick and Harry. Strip your
identity, leave it behind.
Lawyer, Farmhand, Mechanic, don’t tarry with your
own country with your own kind.
Leave all your letters, suburb and township.
Green Fen and grocery, slip-way and bay.
Hot spring and prairie, smoke stack and coal tip.
Leave in our keeping while you’re away.
Tom, Dick and Harry, plain names and numbers,
Pilot, Observer and Gunner depart
Their personal litter only encumbers
Somebody’s head, somebody’s heart.
Collection
Citation
“RAF Poem,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed June 18, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/30905.
Item Relations
This item has no relations.