Gavin Ewart. "When a Beau Goes In":

When a Beau goes in,
Into the drink,
It makes you think,
Because, you see, they always sink
But nobody says "Poor lad"
Or goes about looking sad
Because, you see, it's war,
It's the unalterable law.

Although it's perfectly certain
The pilot's gone for a Burton
And the observer too
It's nothing to do with you
And if they both should go
To a land where falls no rain nor hail nor driven snow —
Here, there, or anywhere,
Do you suppose they care?

You shouldn't cry
Or say a prayer or sigh.
In the cold sea, in the dark
It isn't a lark
But it isn't Original Sin —
It's just a Beau going in.


Gavin Ewart was born in London in 1916, of Scottish descent. He was educated at Wellington College, Berkshire, and Christ’s College, Cambridge. While at Cambridge, Ewart was literary editor of Granta.

In 1933, at the age of seventeen, Ewart's first ‘adult’ poem, ‘Phallus in Wonderland’, was published in New Verse – the highly regarded literary magazine well known for publishing Auden and his circle. Heavily influenced by the poems of T.S. Eliot and Ezra Pound, Ewart continued to contribute accomplished and for the period rather shocking pieces to the magazine. Ewart’s first book was published in February 1939, just before his 23rd birthday, and between 1940 and 1946 he served as a captain in the Royal Artillery, fighting in North Africa and in Italy; from then up until the early 1960s he published hardly any poetry. On demobilisation, he served as a functionary for Editions Poetry London and worked for the British Council from 1946 to1952, afterwards working as a copywriter in various advertising agencies.

Or this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsUdbzQCm_Y

The original link posted shows some really damaged P-40s that got their pilots back to Milne Bay. Check about the 26min:18second mark

Scriptus

Thanks for the link, I found it most informative and most entertaining to watch.

The Beaufighter sounds like the daddy of the A 10 Warthog....

Both were Big Guns With wings...

quote:

Originally posted by N E 450 No2:
Scriptus

Thanks for the link, I found it most informative and most entertaining to watch.

The Beaufighter sounds like the daddy of the A 10 Warthog....

Both were Big Guns With wings...

Pleasure, they also did some good work in North Africa strafing ground targets.