An Ode to Dowding's Men

(those who served in the air-force during The Battle of Britain)


Defending a great but desperate society,
they took to deadly skies

Led by strategical visionaries,
they took to brutal skies

Young and brave,
blessed by bloody Mars,
they took to deadly skies

In between cups of coffee
and games of chess,
they took to war-like skies

For Britannia and country gardens,
for Marlowe, Keats, and Shakespeare,
they took to fearful skies

In Africa
and the Middle East
and Asia
and everywhere the sun never sets,
they took to deadly skies