This book was later revised & expanded under the same title in 1967.
- WARD-JACKSON, C. H. 1967. Airman's Song Book. Edinburgh: William Blackwood. 200 songs sung by British airmen in World War II. Compare: GETZ; HOPKINS; PAGE; STARR; and WALLRICH.
AN INTRODUCTION
One day my former commanding officer was reminiscing
with me over a tankard or two, recalling old friends and
incidents in the Royal Naval Air Service and, later, in the
Royal Air Force on stations at Home and in the Middle East.
As such conversations do, talk turned to mess parties, and he
regretted that he had forgotten the words of some of the songs
sung on those cheerful occasions. He asked if I could find
him the words of what is perhaps the oldest and best-known
squadron song of all—The Bold Aviator or The Dying Airman.
I had had a good deal of fun producing and playing in
Service theatricals, my duties took me to R. A. F. stations in
various parts of the country, and I had already made a small
study of R. A. F. colloquialisms and their origins. So it
amused me in off-duty moments to see what I could do to
meet my former C. O. 's request. From various sources I
pieced together a goodly selection of verses of The Bold
Aviator (which pre-dates even 19141) and, in addition, came
upon other airmen's ditties (I like the matelots' word).
It occurred to me that there would be some merit in
bringing together a few of such things for publication; it
would place on record some of the songs of the Service, thus
helping to preserve the traditions reflected in them; it would
enable young airmen who didn't know the words to sing
them with the mature gusto of older ones who did; it would
serve, after the war, to remind ex-airmen of the lighter side
of their service; and it would let it be known to the public
that their air force, though youthful, had its own technique
of dispelling through song its trials and tribulations.
So in spare moments I started to collect and record. It
was not long before it became clear that if the sailors had
their shanties and the " brown types" their marching
refrains, the airmen had their own songs too—dozens of
them. What was more, they were being added to in all
Commands, though many of the old ones had been lost.
Wherever I spoke about Air Force songs I found the keenest
interest in them and an urgent desire for " the words".
In their songs airmen have written their own history, and
the scenes of their attempts at composition are scattered
across the world: around an iron stove in a Nissen hut in
Iceland, in a bivouac on a Sudan landing ground, in a canteen
'Page 231, "An Airman's Outings. " by "Contact" (Alan Bolt), 1917. Blackwood.
V
in Kent on a Naafi " commando " piano, on the banks of the
Tigris, in a flying training mess in Saskatchewan, in an air-
craft apprentices' school in beechy Buckinghamshire, in a
stoney waste of the North West Frontier, squatting on a
petrol tin in the Libyan sand, in the Cadet College at Cran-
well, in the hot-flannel heat of the Gambia, back of barbed
wire in a German stalag, in an estaminet in Flanders over a
bottle of vin blanc,
What is an airman's song? I would define it as a lyric by,
for and about airmen or their activities. I exclude the
bawdy smoking concert song sung wherever stag parties fore-
gather; it is not peculiar to airmen. I exclude professional
scripts written for the theatre and radio like " Coming in
on a Wing and a Prayer, " "Johnnie's Got a Zero, " " He
Wears a Fair of Silver Wings, " and such stuff. These are
the commercials of Charing Cross Road and Broadway, and
have no connection with R. A. F. tradition and spirit. The
words must be by, for and about airmen, but the tune may
come from anywhere.
It is natural that most airmen's songs are not sung to
original music but are put to, or are parodies of, hymns and
airs like " The Tarpaulin Jacket, " " She'll be Coming Round
the Mountain, " " A Little Bit of Heaven, " and the like.
The reasons are clear—there are so many excellent tunes to
select from that it is not difficult to find one that fits the
desired mood; rhymesters are commoner than music com-
posers; it is easier to record and memorise original words
than an original tune (if such a thing as an original tune
exists); and so many songs are written as an outcome of
and under conditions where the only instrument is the
plebeian mouth-organ.
It may be said that there are four classifications of airman's
song: Squadron, Concert Party, Training and Camp Songs.
The first and pre-eminent is born out of the mess parties
of pilots and other aircrew of fighter, bomber, coastal,
reconnaissance and army co-operation squadrons. Most
have been written while on operations, and typical are
The Bold Aviator (pre-ic; r4); So Early in the Morning and / Left
the Mess Room Early (first World War); The Ballad of Sulaiman
and Those Shaibah Blues (the " Peace " Years); The Benghazi
Mail Run and The Firth of Flaming Forth (second World War),
in each of which air fighting history is written. A number of
peace-time songs were written during operations—it is not
understood or appreciated widely enough that our Air Force
has been on operations almost continuously since 1914—in
the peace-years on the North-West Frontier, Somaliland,
Aden, Iraq, Palestine and Egypt.
VI
A squadron song does not need to be "of" a particular
squadron—each one must have come from a squadron
originally, but its origin may have been lost and it has
thereby passed into common ownership. Examples of this
. are The Bold Aviator, Which He'll Never Do No More and
Officers of "i4" Flight.
Indeed, it is rarely possible to say for certain whether any
particular song belongs to anyone. Usually the words are
composed' communally, everyone taking a hand ; or the
author and his collaborators have not survived operations
and no record has been kept. Different squadrons sing
different versions of the same song, they get carried from one
mess to another through visits and postings ; and no one
troubles to write anything down, for the atmosphere in
which squadron songs are originated and sung is hardly
conducive to order.
So if, in this anthology, I have mentioned certain squadrons
in relation to particular songs it is not necessarily claimed
that those squadrons originated them, but only that I under-
stand them to have been sung by them. Also, while I have
inserted the names of authors where there is no doubt of
them, in most cases I have been unable to discover them,
The Concert Party group describes itself—songs written
for R.A.F. concert parties to sing on the station stage. In
the Service almost every musical self-entertainment that is
produced is called " Concert Party," and since the last war
this has been one of the most active forms of R.A.F. amuse-
ment. Where squadron ditties draw their airs chiefly from
traditional or music-hall songs, or hymns, the composer of
the concert party song tends to borrow his music from the
musical comedies or to compose his own. Examples of this
group are There's no A.M.O. About Love (a very witty lyric
with its own music), My Motteri As Tou Bed Tour Balloon in
the Morning and The Wids' Song.
The third category is Training Songs—those of the
Aircraft Apprentices' School at Halton are typical, and
other examples are The Cadet (a pretty period picture of the
R.A.F. cadet of the 1920's), Heaven or Hell, and (it should
not be left out) The Song of the A. T.C.
Under Camp Songs I classify those originated by and
about units and themes other than operational squadrons—
songs about ground personnel, particular groups of trades-
men, and so on. In this class fall The Service Police Songy
Song of the Shirt, Once There was a Naafi Girl, Bless 'Em All,
and others that have no home in the other categories.
Why are airmen's songs written and sung? For two
-m *
reasons: to entertain audiences often far removed from any
sort of professional theatrical show, and to " let off steam."
Almost all squadron songs belittle and laugh at death and
crashes or they grouse about whatever is the cause of the
singers' browned-off state. Consider the songlet mentioned
by Captain Norman Macmillan in his Out of the Blue:—
Poor old pilot's dead,
Poor old pilot*s dead.
He's killed himself,
He's killed himself.
Poor old pilot's dead.
It was sung to the tune of " Ring-a-Ring-a-Roses"!
Consider The Heavy Bombers which runs :
And if you go to Hades, it's just like S.H.Q,.
There's lots of stooges sitting round with damn-all else to do,
They ask you for your flimsies, your pass and target maps,
You take the ruddy issue and stuff it down their traps.
In the first case the singer laughs at Old Man Newton ; in
the second he is grousing at the administrative side of
operations.
In fact, like the soldier, the airman likes to sing more
about his fears and miseries than anything else. Note these
themes from the songs in the anthology: having to get up
in the morning, Naafi tea, drill, heavy boots, " the guy who
does not fly," gremlins who guzzle your glycol, the Manual
of Air Force Law, guard duties, bedding down a barrage
balloon for a thunderstorm warning, being taken prisoner,
equipment deficiencies, obsolete aircraft, policemen, the
stooges in headquarters, sand, mud, isolated stations,
warrant officers, flight sergeants, the Boat for Home that
never seems to come, unholy happenings caused by engines
cutting out and petrol shortage, the physical consequences
of crashing—and a thousand more of the binding causes of
mental and physical discomfort.
In the songs of the airmen there is little bravado, little
line-shooting—only laughter at the depressing sides of life.
The parody Bloody Hell (to the tune, if you please, of" Baa,
Baa, Black Sheep ") is a simple example, expressing nicely
the feelings of airmen on many Home stations that are, never-
theless, out in the blue.
It almost goes without saying that the original versions of
a large number of airmen's songs are as full of swear words
as there are sultanas in a piece of Dundee cake. Especially
is this so of squadron songs, most of which are written under
operational conditions; concert party songs are the only
VI11
group to which it does not apply at all. It is equally obvious
that the expletives are relished by the singing airman as
much as the schoolboy delights in the sultanas. No doubt
many old sweats will cry tears when they glance over the
versions here printed and taste the cack-handed cooking
through which many of them have passed to fit them for
publication. Yet I had no alternative but to euphemise
where it was necessary, knowing full well that my editing
would be ignored, when singing in appropriate company,
and the original styles replaced in all their fruity glory.
One officer who has served for twenty years lately wrote
to me as follows : " I spent a night at T— recently when a
party was on for a visiting squadron, and most of the old
songs were sung with extraordinary solemnity by young men
holding their cans of beer like oblations or ritual sacrifices,
and the songs seemed obscener than ever—almost sublimely
so. I remember years ago discussing Rabelais with Dr. J. A.
Richards, the literary critic, and some rather prim under-
graduate said, ' After reading Rabelais I feel I want to have
a bath.' ' Really,' said Richards, * do you know, I always
feel I've had one.' "
But to those who would expect to find in this anthology
such mess masterpieces as (t Lulu,." the original " Salome,"
" The Ballad of Eskimo Nell," " Mussolini's Organ-grinders,"
and " There's a Street in Cairo Full of Grief and Shame,"
I can only say that they do not come within my definition of
airmen's songs, and that, like libel, their printing ain't
permitted.
However, it has gone very much against the grain to have
had to expunge words that are in such common Air Force use
that, within that circle, they may no longer be described as
swear words yet, outside it, are unfit for even today's broad-
minded drawing room. I refer to such expressions as the
vulgarism used by airmen for mist, bad weather, flak or any
rough stuff that hinders the orderly progress of an aircraft
through space.
Any aspirant to the publication of a Service-man's anthology
such as this, will have to face up to this obstacle. He will
find himself constantly posing the question, " Dare I put
this in or must I cut it out? And if I cut it out what can I
put in its place without losing the sense and spirit? " The
sense he may retain, but the spirit—not quite. Nevertheless,
there have been several attempts to preserve airmen's songs
in print, although copies of the collections that have been
published are obscure and rare. First, a collection of 26
R.F.C. and R.N.A.S. songs was included in Tommy's Tunes,
edited and arranged by Lieutenant F. T. Nettleingham,
xx
R.F.G., and published in 1917 by Erskine MacDonald, Ltd.
These included songs that had been included in Aeronautics
during the Great War, and also in Flying. Incidentally,
Lieutenant Nettleingham referred to the R.F,C. as " the
writers' corps."
Then in those days 54 Squadron was particularly famous
for its songs. Lieut.-Col. L. A. Strange in his Recollections
of an Airman, recalls that it was commanded by Major
Maxwell, and came under 80th Wing in the 10th Brigade
commanded by General (as he then was) Ludlow Hewitt.
" The spirit of this squadron," said the writer, " is happily
caught by the songs they produced and sang in the mess ;
some of these have been printed in a little book." That little
book was called Cinquante Quatre, was published by Bowes
& Bowes, Cambridge, and contained 10 songs of the
squadron.
Another record is Air Force Songs and Verses, published by
Aeronautics, Ltd., in 1927, to raise money for the R.A.F.
Memorial Fund. In addition to the 54 Squadron songs, it
contained 27 others of the Great War and Armistice periods.
In one version or another most of the Great War songs in
the foregoing records will be found in the present collection.
Another record is The Halton Song Book, a collection of
songs sung by the aircraft apprentices at R.A.F. Station,
Halton, during the Peace Years, or the Long Weekend as
Charles Graves calls them. The book was printed for the
Halton Debating Society in 1930, it contains 32 original
songs written for station theatricals, and forms in itself an
excellent picture of life at the R.A.F. apprentices' school,
founded there in 1925, from which the Service is supplied
with its finest ground technicians. Most of these Halton
songs are by A. C. Kermode to music by R. H. Cort. To
this source I acknowledge A New Toast (the words of which
were written on April 1, 1918, the birthday of the R.A.F.),
the Riggers', Coppersmiths' and Fitters' Songs, and A Forced
Landing, all of which are dated 1928.
The only other printed records I know (apart from one or
two published in sheet-music form) are in the autobiographies
and diaries of pilots and other personnel, and scattered
through the pages of station and squadron magazines, Home
and overseas. A few officers and men have compiled their
own private collections, usually jealously guarded, out invalu-
able at mess parties and to squadron entertainment officers.
I recently heard from some repatriated airmen prisoners-of-
war that the wing commander who is entertainments
officer in Stalag Luft III has such a private collection and
that it has helped to pass away many an hour in that German
camp for Air Force prisoners.
It is to be regretted, however, that many airmen's ditties
of the first World War have been lost, because in themselves
they were contemporary chips of history. When in the early
1920's the politicians sent the Royal Air Force to the guillo-
tine, thousands of pilots, observers and ground crew were
scattered to the four winds in civilian clothes, taking with
them the words of songs that had cheered them through
grim days. When many of them joined up again twenty years
after they remembered only a few snatches of a verse here
and there. So, please, if you find missing from this collection
some squadron favourite of the early days of flying do not
overlook the limitations under which the compiler has worked.
Yet the last thing one would desire to do by recording is
to deprive the airman's song of its greatest charm—spon-
taneity. Most of these songs are mere doggerel, with no
pretensions to lyric quality. Deprive them of their spon-
taneity and you take away their fun and spirit. Praise the
Lord, there is no danger of the R.A.F. ever imitating the
German Air Force regulation, under which every airman is
issued with the Luftwaffe song-book—stuffed full (I surmise)
with the versified outpourings of Herr Doktor Goebbels*
Ministry of Propaganda and Public Enlightenment. I should
like to see a copy of that collection of songs, not that they
would qualify for inclusion herein—they may be written
about and for airmen but certainly not naturally by them.
Because so many R.A.F. songs are spontaneous, they are
peppered with colloquialisms whose meanings may be
obscure to the layman—indeed, at the Apprentices' School
at Halton they were singing a Gilbertian song about R.A.F.
slang fifteen years ago. It runs :
It has been true, I'm told, ever since the days of old,
That the language which we use is apt to vary,
And the slang which we invent
Will form a supplement
To the next issue of the Oxford Dictionary.
Just as many of the colloquialisms of the R.A.F. are of
naval and army origin, so a few of the early songs and
parodies of the Service come from the same sources. But
Bless 'Em All, perhaps the R.A.F. song best known to the
public, is not one of these. This ditty has always been
associated with the Royal Air Force, and is its unofficial
trooping song. During the broadcast of the R.A.F.'s 25th
m
Birthday Celebrations on April i, 1943, Mr. S. P. B. Mais
(ex-R.F.C.) pointed out that it was in fact originated in the
Royal Naval Air Service in 1916, written by Fred Godfrey.
That version was not for publication, and it was unknown
to the public till the late 1930's when it was published in a
completely clean pinafore.
Perhaps the best songs come from times and places that
are denied other forms of entertainment, Western Desert
Madness (260 Squadron) is a typical example of the kind of
airman's song that grows out of such conditions, and I am
indebted for the words of it to Barker Beresford, who also
supplied me with the following description of how it came to
be written:
" It was thought of by a Flight Lieutenant D.F.C., who,
with two sergeant pilots (D.F.C. and dead), wrote the first
verse at Antelat in December, 1941. The first verse, is
entirely confined to the advance from Fort Maddalena on
the wire up to Msus, when we lived entirely on bully beef,
biscuits and marmalade. We were equipped with very
tired Hurricane Ones and had many a good dogfight with
the 109's. We were always being promised Hurricane Twos
or better, but never got 'em.
" The ' crouching in the wadi' was due to the normal call
of nature in the morning, not to sniping. It was a ' brave '
sight to see the squadron getting down to it. Our tea
invariably tasted of petrol or salt depending on where we
stopped—salt at Tobruk and Gazala, petrol at Msus.
" The second and third verses were written at Martuba
by all of us. We played them on a piano we found at
Benghazi, which went everywhere with us, both on retreats
and advances. As you can see, it is pretty bitter towards the
soldiers, but you may recall there was a hectic retreat in
January, 1942. We were left behind at Benghazi to cover
the 4th Indian Division, and very nearly spent the rest of the
war in a prison camp. As it was we lost several good ground
crew, aircrew and our padre. Twenty of the squadron under
the M.T. warrant officer had to walk back to Gazala (a tidy
distance) for which he got a Military Medal.
" But back to the song. ' That man again ' was an extra-
ordinarily pleasant Major from a Highland Regiment who
used to turn up at dawn and ask us to go ground straffing the
advancing Hun. The third and fourth lines are self-evident,
as we were given a * backs to the wall' order. We had one
magnificent day of ground straffing when we hacked up a
large column of Huns and enabled the 4th Indian Division
to withdraw—hence the reference to Benina (our aerodrome).
The next line is rude, but we had a catchphrase, It s alright,
Ponsonby, 260 are in front,' as the Air Force were always
the rearguard.
" ' Fanny ' in the last line but one was our link with the
authority ; he is now a Group Captain D.S.O., D.F.C., and
first-class to boot.
" The last verse (in line three) has a crack at ' Mary '
Goningham, when he was worried that we weren't getting
newspapers—and all we wanted was aircraft, petrol and
ammo!
" The * promise of Tomahawks ' given * on loan ' refers to
our stay at Benghazi, when we were being re-equipped with
No. 4 South African Air Force Squadron's ' Tommies * and
they were getting our ' Hurries.' The moment the flap
started we had to return to our ' Hurries ' in which we fought
our way back via Martuba to Gazala! "
# * * # - *
I am indebted to my friend, Leighton Lucas, the composer
and B.B.C. conductor, for editing the music and for contri-
buting a number of original settings. Readers may recall his
superb incidental music for what is perhaps the finest flying
film of the war, " Target for Tonight." His experience (in-
cluding three years in the R.A.F. as a music instructor) was
invaluable.
It was not possible to include the music to which many of
the lyrics are sung, not because the publishers refused per-
mission to reproduce copyright tunes, but because time
could not be found under present conditions to negotiate
with them, some of the copyrights being American-owned.
The airs of traditional tunes have been included, however,
and in some cases harmony accompaniments as well. In-
cluding the copyright lyrics of several published songs I hasten
to make acknowledgement to: President, Halton Debating
Society (for the Halton apprentices* songs) ; B. Feldman & Go.
(for We are the A.T.C.) ; Keith Prowse (for Bless 'Em All) ;
The Peter Maurice Music Co., Ltd. (for If I Only Had
Wings and My A.C.W.2.).
My thanks are tendered to the many officers and men who
have kindly helped me by contributing various songs and
information ; special thanks for assistance are due to Air
Commodore Finlay Crerar, C.B.E., Group Captain C. L. M.
Brown ; Wing Commanders J. Barker, P. A. Gilchrist,
P. E. Hadow, R. N. Hesketh, P. H. Holmes, and Wing
Officer E. Llewellyn ; Squadron Leaders E. Dean, G. W.
Minto, D. N. Nichols, P. N. L. Nicholson and Squadron
Officer B. J. Holmes ; Flight Lieutenants I. F. Anderson,
J. A. Atkinson (for, with Flying Officer F. H. Ziegler, his
He Had to Go and Prang 3Er in the Hangar), C. R. Bingham,
T. E. Dalton ; Flying Officers Arthur Macrae (for his There's
Mo A.M.O. About Love and Votive Had It), Paddy Duff,
G. A. Turner and Peter Yorke; to Flight Officer E. M. Potts,
Squadron Leader A- A. Salmon, to Barker Beresford, and to
Courtney Hume and Gordon Brand (for their Ifs Laid Down);
to the Librarians of the Air Ministry and the Imperial War
Museum.
I would direct the attention of the interested, though
uninitiated, to the brief glossary of slang and specialist terms
at the end of the book, as this may assist them to comprehend
the apparently incomprehensible.
And, finally, it is hoped (chiefly by.myself) that interest
in this little parade of songs of the youngest Service may
warrant a further roll-call, for there are many gaps in the
ranks. Therefore not merely I but possibly the officers and
airmen of years to come will be appreciative if any readers
would, for inclusion in a later edition, send me the words of
any songs that have been omitted but which they feel should
be included. Please address them to the undersigned,
c/o The Sylvan Press, 24-25, Museum Street, London, W.C.i.
C. H. Ward-Jackson.
London, W.i.
xiv
INDEX TO SONG TITLES
Page
Bold Aviator or The Dying Airman 2
Recruiting Song of the Royal Fly-
ing Corps (i)....... 6
Ragtime Flying Corps.... 7
Mountains of Mourne. -.. 8
Recruiting Song of the Royal Fly-
ing Corps (ii)...... 9
What Do You Want.... 9
When This Ruddy War is Over.. 10
Pilot's Psalm...... 10
Who Killed Cock Robin ?.. 11
Three Squadron...... 11
We Haven't Seen The Sergeant 12
Back Seat Ballad...... 12
Napoo-Fini.. .. .. .. 12
Fred Karno's Air Corps., 13
Air Mechanic's Moan.... 14
R. F. C. Toast ...... 14
I Don't Want to Join The Air
Force........ 15
Capital Bus for a Crowd Like Us 16
R. A. F. Trooping Song—Bless 'Em
All ........ 17
Only Way.... 19
Song of the Hun...... 20
This is the Flying Corps.... 20
Looping the Loop.... 21
R. F. C. Alliterations.... 22
Hurrah for the Bounding Air.. 23
Stormy the Night.... 24
Pushing...... 25
I Want a G-nome.... 26
Excelsior Up to Date.... 27
When the Dawn Patrol Sets Out.. 28
Birdman........ 28
Wreck of the Old F. E...... 29
They Called Them RAF 2Cs... 31
Ragtime Aircraft Builders.. 32
Ode to the R. A. F. Engine.. 34
Last Lay of the Sopwith Camel
Pilot ......-... 35
Ten Little Albatri...... 36
There Were Three Huns.... 37
Hush-a-Bye Baby..,, 37
You're Only a P. B. 0..... 38
Up in a Sop...,., 39
Page
Syncopated Fire Control.. .. 40
In Other Words.. .. .. 41
Omer Drome .. .. 45.
My Old Yellow Jacket.. .. 46
I Left the Mess Room Early.. 48
So Early in the Morning .. 51
Two Hunnische Airmen.. ,. 52
Heaven or Hell.. .. .. 53
Over the Lines.. .. .. 55
Every Little While .. .. 55
Wings of an Avro .. .. 56
Another Undercarriage Wouldn't
Do Us Any Harm .. .. 57
My Motter .. .. .. 58
We Haven't Got a Hope in the
Morning .. .. .. 59
I Want to Go To Essen.. .. 60
If You Want to Remain Inside.. 60
The 100 Squadron Lament 61
Sing a Song of Aircraft.. ,. 63
Song of 54 Squadron.. .. 64
Which He'll Never Do No More 65
Bettencourt .. ., .. 68
New Toast .. .. ., 6g
Now I'm a General at the Ministry 73
Poor Old Pilot ...... 74
Squadron Toast.. .. .. 74
Song of 55 Squadron .. .. 76
Twenty-four Squadron Song.. 77
Just a Little Oil.. .. 77
In the Middle of Salisbury Plain-O 78
Those Shaibah Blues.. .. 79
Now I'm an AC/3 ■■ •'• 80
A. O. C. 's Inspection .. .. 80
Officers of "A" Flight.. .. 81
Flying Training.. .. .. 82
Song of the Cadet .. .. 83
Ballad of Sulaiman .. .. 85
Avro and the Song .. .. 88
Fitters' Song .. .. .. 89
Song of the Shirt.. .. .. 94
Shire, Shire, Somersetshire .. 95
Three Songlets.. .. .. 97
Hold Your Row...... 98
Just Three More Days to Go.. 98
Riggers' Song ...... 99
INDEX TO SONG TITLES—continued •
Page
Far Away...... 102
Coppersmiths' Song.. .. 103
Maiden Young and Fair .. 106
Forced Landing.... .. 107
M. T. Drivers' Song.. . - 108
Song to Newcomers to Iraq .. 109
That Old-Fashioned Avro of Mine 110
It's Just the Air Force Way .. 112
Old Annie.. . - 113
Oh! Mary, This WAAF.. .. 114
If I Only Had Wings.. .. 115
Firth of Flaming Forth .. 116
Ops in a Wimpey.... .. 118
Old-Fashioned Wimpey.. .. 119
Thanks for the Memory.. .. 119
Hudson Song.... .. 120
One for the Tiger.... 121
Service of Thanksgiving for Safe
Arrival in Iraq.... .. 122
On the Move.... .. 127
I Love to Fly a Whitley Three.. 128
Erk's Lament.... .. 129
My A. C. W. 2....... 130
Plotter's Lament 130
Bloody Hell.... .. 131
Practice-Flapping.... .. 132
Tins...... 133
Song of the Gremlins.. .. 134
Fortress Song (i).... .. 135
Gas, Gas, Gas.. 136
Fortress Song (ii).... .. 137
Page
We Are the Air-Sea Rescue .. 138
Rows and Rows and Rows .. 139
She's a Swell Dame .. .. 141
Balloonatics' Song .. .. 142
Heavy Bombers -. .. .. 143
Western Desert Madness.. .. 144
Malta Song .. .. .. 145
Song of 51 Maintenance Unit.. 148
Benghazi Mail Run .. .. 152
Servicing Song.. .. ,. 154
As You Bed Your Balloon in the
Morning .. .. .. 156
You've Had It ...... 158
Service Police Song .. .. 159
So Here I Work, ..... 160
There's No A. M. O. About Love.. 162
Mrs. Mobile .. ,, ,, 163
Wids' Song.. .. .. 164
A2i8-Squadron Song.. .. 165
Bring Back my Bomber and Me -. 167
The Fitter, the Rigger, the Mech. 168
Once There Was a Naafi Girl.. 169,
Song of 59 Squadron .. .. 171
Everybody's Crackers on P. T... 172
Flight Mechanics' Song,. .. 173
It's Laid Down.. .. .. 174
You'll Never Go to Heaven .. 176
Little Pilot Boys...... 177
We Are the A. T. C..... 178
He Had to Go and Prang 'Er in the
Hangar.. .. .. .. 179
INDEX TO FIRST LINES
Page
The bold aviator was dying,... ., ,.
,. 2
A poor aviator lay dying.... .. ,,
.. 3
The young aviator lay dying ..
.. .. 4
I was standing at the corner..,. .. 6
We are the ragtime Flying Corps.... .... .,
8
Dear Mother, I'm writing this letter, you see.. ..
.. 8
I was walking in Town up Regent Street.. .,
.. 9
What do you want to go and crash like that for ..
.. .. 9
When this ruddy war is over.... ..
.. 10
The B. E. 2C is my bus.... .. ..
.. 10
Who killed Cock Robin ?.... .. ..
.. 11
We're Three-ee, yes Three-ee,. «., ,, „.
.. 11
We haven't seen the Sergeant for a hell of a time ..
.. ,, 12
Think of me when your pressure's falling
.. .. 12
Keep the 2Cs turning...... , s .. ,.
12
We are Fred Karno's Air Corps.... ..
.. 13
The hours I spent with thee, dear bus.. ..
.. 14
We meet 'neath the sounding rafters
,. 14
I don't want to join the Air Force.... .. ..
.. 15
A capital bus for a crowd like us.. ,.
,. 16
There's many a troopship just leaving Bombay ..
.. .. 17
If by some delightful chance....
.. 19
Say, Mister Stranger, how do you do.. .. ..
.. 20
This is the Flying Corps...... .. ..
.. 20
Looping the Loop with Lucy Loo..,, .. ,,
.. 21
Dirty Danny's digging deeper dug-outs.. .. ..
.. 22
An aviator bold am I....,. .. ,. ..
23
Stormy the night and a lowering sky.. .. ..
.. 24
Where will we be in a hundred years from now .. ..
.. 25
I want a G-nome....,, .. .. ..
26
The shades of night were falling fast., .. ..
,. 27
When the Dawn Patrol sets out to cross the lines ..
.. .. 28
I want to be an airman bold.... ., .,
.. 28
It was an old F. E. 2B...... .. ..
.. 29
They found a bit of iron...... .. ..
.. 31
This they call a factory...... .. .,
■ - 32
Eight little cylinders sitting facing heaven.. ..
.. .. 34
Beside a Belgian 'staminet.... .. .,
• ■ 35
Ten little Albatri flying on the line...... .. ..
36
There were three Huns sat on his tail.. .. ..
■ • 37
Hans vos mine name...... .. .. • •
37
When you get in the old machine to start on a damned O. P. ..
.. 38
Oh Mother, put out your Golden Star.. .. •.. - ■
39
In F. E. s you can sit at ease.... .. ..
.. 40
I was fighting a Hun in the hey-day of youth ..
.. .. 41
I've got a windy feeling round my heart.. .. ,.
■ ■ 45
Wrap me up in my old yellow jacket.. .. ,.
.. 46
188
INDEX TO FIRST LINES—continued
Page
I left the mess room early... ..... 48
The orderly bloke was asleep in bed.. ..
.. 51
Two Hunnische airmen were Adolf and me.. .. ..
52
Do you ever think as a hearse goes by.. .. ..
53
We were flying in formation and we kept our ruddy station ..
.. 55
Every little while I crash a Camel.. ..
.. ■ ■ 55
If I had the wings of an Avro ..
56
There was a little pilot and he flew an R. E. 8
57
I fly along on an old B. E... ..
.. 58
When you soar into the air on a Sopwith Scout ..
.. ■ ■ 59
The Kaiser has seen a new kind of machine.. .. ..
60
When you're flying the old " Nine A ".. ..
.. 60
For months in England on the spree.. ..
.. 61
Sing a song of aircraft used in the Great War s.
.... 63
Oh ! We came out from Birmingham.. ..
.... 64
He was diving at the Hun at two hundred miles an hour ..
.. 65
When the Boche was getting jumpy in the towns along the Rhine ..
68
As we'll all admit, the Royal Navy's the finest in the world ....
69
When I was a boy I went to war.. ,.
,., • ■ 73
Poor old pilot's dead.... .. .... 74
I, friend, drink to thee, friend.... .. ....
74
Look at all those fellows clad in pale blue.. ..
.... 76
Some lucky lads will to Blighty go ..
..... 77
Can you please direct me to my aerodrome.. ..
.. 77.
In 1892 I found myself with nothing to do ..
..., 78
A little piece of mhutti fell from out the sky one day ..
.. 79
I joined the R. A. F. as an aircraft hand
.. 80
Parade, parade, attention !.. ..
.... 80
Officers of "A" flight...... .. ..
81
When this rotten term is over.... ..
.. 82
My style you'll quickly get.. ..
... 83
In the year Anno Domini One-Nine-Two-Four .. ....
85
I shot an Avro into the air.... .. ..
88
We are the fitters, fitters A. E. are we, are we ..
.... 89
This old coat of mine..
.. 94
We're leaving Khartoum on the cattle saloon ..
.. ■ ■ 95
Comrades don't believe him..., ..
.. 97
Now I've been in Iraq a fortnight or so.. ..
.. 98
Just three more days to go.. ..
.. 98
O ! O ! Oleo. What do we do and what do we know?..
.. 99
Around her leg she wore a purple garter
.. 102
Tin, tin, bashers of tin.... .. .... 103
A maiden young and fair was she.. .. ,,,.
106
Ailerons are busted, Cockpit's round the fin.. ..
.. 107
Oft in top gear, oft in low.... ..
108
Now, to you who have just arrived ..
.,.. 109
There are fellows who swear at machines in the air ..
110
If you're billeted in barns with pigeons overhead ..
.... 112
My Anson's flown over the ocean..
.. .. 113
Oh ! Mary, this WAAF is a wonderful life.. ..
.. 114
Ever since the day you've sworn in.. .. .,.. 115
189
INDEX TO FIRST LINES—continued
Page
We had been flying all day long at a hundred flaming feet.. ..
116
Who'll fly a Wimpey.. ....
.. 118
There's an old-fashioned Wimpey..... ..
.. 119
Thanks for the memory.. .... .. 119
Our flight commander got the D. F. C.., .... ..
120
One for the Tiger.... 121
There are some greenhorns far away ....
.. 122
Oh boat, our curse in ages past..., ,. .....123
Oh Air Ministry, strong to save..
.. 124
We are but little airmen meek.... .... .. 126
Pack the equipment all ready for shipment..., .. 127
I love to fly a Whitley Three..., _.... .. 128
Why did I join the RAF ?.... .... 129
It happened one day we were talking., .... .. 130
We're up each morning bright and early., ....... 130
This bloody town's a bloody cuss.... ....
131
I'm off to the invasion.... .. ..
.. 132
The Nissen hut's foundation is petrol tins galore ,,...
133
When you're seven miles up in the heavens.. ....
134
The Fortress will fly again over the sea.. ....
135
Gas, gas, gas is in the air, boys.... .... .. 136
The navigator sits in front.. ....
.. 137
We are the Air-Sea Rescue.. .... .. 138
We come from Legs Eleven.... .... 139
She's plump an' she's bonny to look at.. .. ..
141
When ciwy folk are tucked in tight *.. .. ..
.. 142
We are the heavy bombers.... .. ..
143
Western Desert Madness is caused by the heat of the sun ..
.. 144
We're flying binding Hurricanes.... .. ..
.. 145
November Nineteen-Thirty-Nine: near three-spired (censored) town.. 148
Take off for the Western Desert.... .. ..
.. 152
She'll be skidding down the runway when she comes.. ..
.. 154
D'ye ken B. 1 on a rainy night.... .. ..
156
There is a phrase that seems to haunt my days .. ,.
.. 158
We're Service Policemen bold and wary.. .. ..
.. 159
An A. M. signal spoiled my joy.. ..
.. 160
Sir Archibald, I really am in quite a shocking flap .. ..
.. 162
They call her Mrs. Mobile.... .. ..
.. 163
In war-torn England there was great demand . - ..
.. 164
At the beacon, at the beacon, landing turn is Number 9 ..
.. 165
One night as I lay on my pillow.. ~.. ■. * ..
.. 167
We're the men who put the kites in the air.. .,
.. .. 168
Once there was a Naafi girl.... .. .. ■
.. 169
A squadron swept over the ocean.... .. .. ■...
171
Around the perimeter we've gotta run.. .. .. '..
172
Lords of the air they call us.... .. ..
.. 173
Now I'm a bloke from the Admin. School.. .. ..
.. 174
You'll never go to heaven in a Hurricane One ,. .,
■ .. 176
Ten little pilot boys....... •.. .. -. '.. -' 177
Very open minded are we in our points of view .. "... ■,. 178
He had to go and prang her in the hangar.. .. ' ..
■... 179
190