I'm not sure where to post this, however, this poem has been on my mind of late. Dad titled his audio memoirs "How I won the war." He said:
"But, I have to explain a few things and this might as well be the best time to do it. I chose the title, "How I Won the War". And I did it for a reason. I learned when we were at the reunion, and I was with Jack Vernon, as you probably know, after the war was over 419 Squadron flew back home. And when they were leaving Middleton St. George, they had a visit from Air Chief Marshall, Sir Arthur Harris. And he gave a speech to them. Now remember that Harris didn't go anywhere during the war. He was at his headquarters continually, except when he went to…once when…the Dams Raid, that he went to the Station, for the Dams Raid. But that was the only operation on…but he never went anywhere. But he came out to Middleton St. George to bid the crews goodbye. Now there was a saying when that we used to have in the…when I was in training command, and it was a song [poem]
"What did you do in the last war, daddy?
How did you help us to win?
Circuits and bumps and turns laddy,
and how to get out of a spin!"
Well, Air Chief Marshall Harris said, "When your children say to you 'daddy, what did you do in World War II?' he said your answer is, I won it. So that is the reason (chuckle) why I used "How I Won the War". And I didn't know that until just last year."
I did a search for this poem and came up with this link:
F/Lt Owen Chave died on an operation to Cologne, on the night 14/15 February, 1943.
Dad was stuck in training command for 2 years and was always trying to get into operational service.
Jim.
"But, I have to explain a few things and this might as well be the best time to do it. I chose the title, "How I Won the War". And I did it for a reason. I learned when we were at the reunion, and I was with Jack Vernon, as you probably know, after the war was over 419 Squadron flew back home. And when they were leaving Middleton St. George, they had a visit from Air Chief Marshall, Sir Arthur Harris. And he gave a speech to them. Now remember that Harris didn't go anywhere during the war. He was at his headquarters continually, except when he went to…once when…the Dams Raid, that he went to the Station, for the Dams Raid. But that was the only operation on…but he never went anywhere. But he came out to Middleton St. George to bid the crews goodbye. Now there was a saying when that we used to have in the…when I was in training command, and it was a song [poem]
"What did you do in the last war, daddy?
How did you help us to win?
Circuits and bumps and turns laddy,
and how to get out of a spin!"
Well, Air Chief Marshall Harris said, "When your children say to you 'daddy, what did you do in World War II?' he said your answer is, I won it. So that is the reason (chuckle) why I used "How I Won the War". And I didn't know that until just last year."
I did a search for this poem and came up with this link:
The Flying Instructor's Lament
Poetry from deep personal experiences from wartime, including material never previously published and including original research.
aircrewremembered.com
F/Lt Owen Chave died on an operation to Cologne, on the night 14/15 February, 1943.
15 Squadron Stirling I BF448 LS-T Fl/Lt. Chave
Personal history of Allied forces aircrew and support services serving 1935 - 1945 including original research.
aircrewremembered.com
Dad was stuck in training command for 2 years and was always trying to get into operational service.
Jim.
