Document Type
Newsletter
Publication/Presentation Date
Fall 2024
Reflection
Cadets came to America from all parts of the United Kingdom – England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Irrespective of their home country, all the cadets thought of their families and things that made their homeland special. As we approach Remembrance Sunday (or Veterans’ Day), we remember those cadets who forever remain in America, those who lie in a foreign field and those with no known grave. We also remember those cadets who came home but now have ‘handed in their logbooks’. Each one had their own special memories of home as they embarked on the long journey to America and later as pilots, these memories went with them when they left on a mission often without knowing exactly what they would encounter and whether they would return.
John Barber’s father (Dennis Barber) was on Course 26 at 4BFTS. His mother wrote this beautiful poem and for many years, John, who lives in Arizona, has read it in the RAF Remembrance Sunday service in Mesa where 23 cadets are buried. It is about England, but could equally apply to many parts of the UK.
Oh England…can you keep for me, the dancing daffodils
That frolic in the long, green grass upon the rolling hills.
The cherry and the apple trees, that shower blossoms on the breeze
In the old orchard by the lane.
England – ‘til I come again
England can you keep for me the bluebells in the dell
Down by the stream where nightingales and silver birches dwell?
The lilac by the garden wall, letting its scented dew drops fall,
With the laburnum’s golden rain
England – ‘til I come again.
England if they all must fade as summer passes by
And leaves turn gold and brown beneath the autumn sky,
Then keep for me if I come late
One rose, beside the wicket gate
To sooth my yearning heart o’pain…
England – when I come again.
‘Their efforts to preserve the freedom of the world were not in vain and will never be forgotten.’
Scholarly Commons Citation
Harding, J. A. (2024). 5 BFTS Association Newsletter No.29 - Autumn 2024. , (). Retrieved from https://commons.erau.edu/bfts-clewiston-newsletters/28