RAF 5 The Wind
THE WIND
Part I
We hear it every year
and for almost thirty years
I regularly brought parades
to attention
Last Post and Reveille
Those awesome words
Spoken for all who fall in battle
And not only soldiers
But civilians too
At the going down of the Sun
And
In the Morning
We will remember them
There is a curious and almost
indescribable presence
when I stand to attention,
my hand in the salute
as the Colours of Squadrons are lowered
and gently draped
across the ground in submission
The silence is palpable
The Two Minutes has a unique character
It cannot be rushed
It cannot be stopped
It cannot be paused even
The muscles begin to ache;
the slight discomfort forces me
to think still more of the horror of war,
of what countless people go through,
military and civilian alike,
and of my own relatives in particular
now names upon a cenotaph
names in a field far, far away
and yet somehow, always present
And then the sudden piercing
staccato call of Bugle
the Sound to Reveille.
A great swirl
as the Colours rise up as one
from the ground
and carried upon
the wings of the wind
and by the countless souls
within whom those Colours lay
There is meaning to life
Now it is the morning
No longer must we mourn
Now we must bring ourselves to muster
Prepare for whatever the day
has in store for us
Regardless of who
and what we are
In the windows of the mind
The engines roaring to life again
Freedom roused to slay
The temporary might of terror
My mind races back to the present
As the great refrain concludes
They gave their yesterday,
That we might have our today
Part II
In a far-off field
Six graves are quietly
tended by a beautiful girl
of all eleven years
Fräulein Kraus
Her mother’s quiet instruction…
To tend the graves of six
Who have fallen…
To place flowers there
A lifetime on,
the names
Are etched as yet
upon the Innocent child’s mind
seated on a bench
in quiet reflection over
a lifetime of eighty-five years…
“Oh yes! I remember them.
Sergeant Ross
Sergeant Braybrook
Sergeant Brown
Sergeant Kay
Sergeant Williams
Sergeant Webb”
In no particular order
All are equal
Their flying helmets
placed upon the simple crosses
bearing their rank and name
Part III
It mattered not that
they were the enemy
It mattered not
That they brought
death and destruction
Freedom spoke through
the actions of this young mother
and her daughter
Freedom struck back at tyranny
in a field in far off England too
At a place near Moreton in Marsh
The crew of a Heinkel bomber lay,
And villagers paid respect alike
A silent bridge reaching across
The cavernous divide of tyranny
War is a terrifying, horrific thing
Those who wage war lose sight of humanity;
Those on the receiving end
Never lose sight of humanity…
For they define humanity!
And neither side refuse to give in
To give up the very essence of freedom
That, in time, unites us as one again
Part IV
Aeons later, a Ceremony
Simple and yet majestic
Full of meaning
A language of the spirit
Uniting as one
Regardless of words,
It was a still and silent day
No wind
No movement of air
Stillness, not unpleasant
Reminiscent of happier times
In all lives
Of summer days
Of warmth and joy…and Love
The Last Post - The final refrain
All stand to attention quietly
Not rigid
Not the stridency of ugly militarism
But an understanding;
A meeting of the minds
and of the will,
To never let this happen again
…Hark!
Was ist das?
Ein plötzlicher Wind
Keine Warnung
Niemand bewegte sich
Niemand wollte, dass dieser Wind vergeht"
Eine Intensität
Ein Flüstern
Hebt die Fahne kurz an
Vom Boden
...und verschwand
Many a heart that day
Though silent
Knew nonetheless
That in the moment
In that briefest of moments
A crew returned
In grace and peace
And with thankfulness
Pausing, oh so briefly
And departing
The first leaf of Autumn
Spiralled gently to the ground
And then another
And another
Until a little girl
Ran forward, laughing
And collecting seven leaves
Of varying shades and colours
Her beautiful mother
Bending down to take her daughter’s gift
A beaming smile…
Ja liebes. Es ist jetzt Frieden[2]
Written by Kenneth Thomas Webb the nephew of Sergeant-Pilot Kenneth Ernest Webb,
The Pilot and Skipper of Halifax Mk V DK 165 MP-E
22 March 2017
All Rights Reserved
© Kenneth Thomas Webb 2021
This Poem is dedicated to Erik and Mrs Wieman and Peter Berkel
And to Mr. & Mrs M Watta
And to Frau Kraus, the Lady in Speyerdorf Cemetery
And her Son and to her Mother
And wider family
And to Alfred Rech
And his family
Whose records have enabled
The crash site to once again
glimpse the Light of Day
Im Namen des Internationalen Friedens
In the Name of International Peace
[1] What is this?
A sudden Wind
No warning
Nobody moved
Nobody wanted this wind to leave
Here in a moment
Suddenly!
Warm
An intensity
A whisper…
Raising the Colours briefly from the soil
... and gone
[2] Yes Dear. There is peace now
4 February 2022
All Rights Reserved
LIVERPOOL
© 2022 Kenneth Thomas Webb
Ken Webb is a writer and proofreader. His website, kennwebb.com, showcases his work as a writer, blogger and podcaster, resting on his successive careers as a police officer, progressing to a junior lawyer in succession and trusts as a Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives, a retired officer with the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, and latterly, for three years, the owner and editor of two lifestyle magazines in Liverpool.
He also just handed over a successful two year chairmanship in Gloucestershire with Cheltenham Regency Probus.
Pandemic aside, he spends his time equally between his city, Liverpool, and the county of his birth, Gloucestershire.
In this fast-paced present age, proof-reading is essential. And this skill also occasionally leads to copy-editing writers’ manuscripts for submission to publishers and also student and post graduate dissertations.
