Here’s to Us

(With no apologies to the Big Ships)

Here’s to the gallant submariners,
The boys with their torpedoes, by gad,
Those cool, imperturbable, calm, indisputable,
Nervy, inquisitive lads!

Each time they seek out enemy tubs,
Their marvellous deeds we should bless,
These bold, reprehensible, brave, indispensable,
Sensible lads of the subs.

W. Morris
Aug.30′44

Hunger

But why do I talk of death?
That phantom of grisly bone,
I hardly fear his terrible shape,
It seems so like my own.

It seems so like my own,
Because of the fasts I keep,
O God! That bread should be so dear,
Yet flesh and blood so cheap!

A Civvy Again. Thank Heaven!

The End

Some Sense ??

Just a little cradle,
Just a little child,
Just a few, fast fleeting years,
Then a boy so wild,
Soon he reaches manhood,
Then comes on old age,
Thus we have the journey from
The cradle to the grave.

Some Nonsense ????

You’re so beautiful, you’re like a rose,
I’m telling ya, an I’m a guy what knows,
Your eyes are like the shinin’ stars,
Dey remind me of my Ma’s,
I t’ink you’re a swell kind of a goil,
I bet a neck like yours never had a boil!

Extracts Old and New

The widest land doom takes to part us leaves thy heart in mine,
With pulses that beat double. What I do
And what I dream include thee, as the wine
Must taste of it’s own grapes. And when I see
God for myself, He hears that name of thine
And sees within mine eyes, the tears of two.

Not where I breathe, but where I love, I live.

So long as we are loved by others, we could almost say
that we are indispensable; and no man is useless
while he has a true friend.

Whatsoever you would laugh at in others, laugh at in yourself.

Dieppe Gefallen

We tried the same two years ago,
To smash this Nazi’s wall,
And tho we failed to overthrow,
We made a decent haul.

By haul, I mean statistics and types of craft to use,
The strength of Jerries’ wire, the layout of the beach,
The calibre of his cannon, the timing of each fuse,
All this and more – they took – to learn – and then to teach.

And now it seems our effort - was worth it after all,
Yet while they took it from the land, - they didn’t break the wall,
Now who did solve this problem? That’s what I’m waiting for,
The men who died in forty-two – or the boys of forty-four.

T. Fulthorpe,
H.M.S/M Sahib

H.M. Submarine H.49

We left Harwich Oct.17, 1940, arriving off the Dutch coast the following day. About 1300 hours, we surfaced to take a sight, a few seconds afterward, the klaxon sounded and we crashed dived, got underway again. Bulkhead doors opened, word passed.. we were being hunted. Twenty minutes after, depth charges exploded. Engine room lights out, motors stopped, we hit the sea bed. A period of silence, bulkhead doors again opened, broken lights replaced. Report of hydroplane gland blown in, tube space flooded.

Twenty minutes after first attack, pinging started again, more depth charges, attack lasting ten minutes. C.E.R.A. orders passing out of D.S.E.A. sets. Air pressure in engine room so high there was great difficulty in breathing. I heard some one venting the hatch, then must have lost consciousness for a few minutes.

Seeing a round green light, I fought my way toward it, the air pressure being released, I was carried thro the hatch, fouling the jumping wire on my way up. I kicked free and reached the surface.

After being twenty minutes in the water, I was picked up by a German A/S trawler, been taken into “Harlegan” from there to Wilhemskaven, to Thorn, Poland thence to Marlag.M. Five German A/S trawlers took part in this action.

I was the only survivor and with no D.S.E.A. set, as I had to leave myself without, being one short, when serving them out.

After Dunkirk

June 4, 1940

We shall not flag nor fail, we shall go on to the end,
We shall fight in France and on the seas and oceans,
We shall fight with confidence and growing strength in the air,
We shall defend our island whatever the cost may be.
We shall fight on the beaches, landing grounds, in fields, in streets, and on the hills.
We shall never surrender and even if, which I do not for the moment believe, this island, or a large part of it, were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the sea, “armed and guarded by the British Fleet”, will carry on the struggle, until in God’s good time, the New World, with all it’s power and might, sets forth to the liberation and rescue of the old.

Winston Churchill

Birthday Greetings

Sept. 25th, 1944

Lovings greetings, my dear, this day of ‘43
Tho I’m in exile o’er the sea,
Keep smiling Sweetheart and believe
In God and ultimate victory.

So from my heart I wish you well
Of everything you’d wish yourself,
Sincerely hoping that in ‘44
Together, to celebrate, your day for sure.

Do not worry and have no fear,
This war, the end, is very near,
Then home again, with you I’ll be
To commemorate your day and victory.

Today, no nearer England’s shore,
Your day slips by in ‘44
Another year perforce I send,
My greetings, my Love, without end.

Dreams

Every time the sun goes down,
My thoughts return to you,
We’re wandering thro dreamlands wonderland,
Our kiddies, myself, and you.

Laughingly, carefree, as of old,
Serene in the happiness always known,
Our thoughts, our words, all unfold,
This lasting love, that is our own.

Yet soon will dawn our great day,
When dreams will be a sweet refrain,
Of peace returned, please God to stay,
Our kiddies, you and I, as one, again.

Never more, shall we part,
As life’s span is too short by far,
A day to spare from you, dear heart,
A lesson taught by war, not art.

So when all my dreams come true,
My fellow men cease to irritate,
This POW will no longer be blue,
For, ever together, our happy estate.

As Ever,
Bill
Aug.30′44

Goddess of Mercy

Goddess of mercy, in whose hand,
The charities of Jesus lie,
Thy goodness shadows every land,
Tho red the trench, tho black the sky.

See how we in exile raise,
Our grateful eyes in solemn prayer,
A sign that sisterhood put there.

Why, without thy far flung ministry,
Our days were longer, leaner – lost,
What the angels send us o’er the sea,
The symbol of the crimson cross.

Frank Stebbing, POW

Submarine

The wind went down with the sunset
And the fog came up with the tide
When the Witch of the North took an egshell
With a little blue devil inside
“Sink” she said, “Or swim” she said,
“It’s all you will get from me,”
“And that’s the end of him, she said
And the eggshell went to sea.

The wind got up with the morning
And the fog blew off with the rain
And the Witch of the North saw the eggshell
And the little blue devil again
“Did you swim?” she said, “Did you sink?” she said
And the little blue devil replied
“For myself, I swam, but I think,” he said
“There’s somebody sinking outside.”

R. Kipling

OK ’til Friday the 13th, Bill!
All the best, Paddy

A Wife’s Prayer

A lonely wife sat by the fireside one night,
Clasping her daughter’s hand, ever so tight,
She gazed at the embers, then said she could see,
A picture of Daddy, now over the sea.

“Oh! Look there dear” she smilingly said,
“Can you see Daddy, in that little bit of red?”
“He looks so well and he’s as brown as can be,
But I wish he were here and me on his knee.”

The fire flamed up – this wife looked divine,
With her fine wavy hair and her blue eyes ashine,
“Oh God, please guard Hubby, don’t let him despair”
This was this wife’s fervent prayer.

A prisoner lay sleeping, in a land far away,
He’d been hungry and cheerless all thro that day,
But a smile creased his features as he lay in respose,
For God answered her prayer, as soon as it arose.