Silent homage

In silent homage stand, Salopians true;
A tear in silence shed - they died for you.
They left the gracious shades of Wrekin high,
Or some dear Clee Hill glade, to fight - to die
Perchance, a vale mid Stretton’s purple hills,
Or some dear mining spot; with joy the spirit thrills
That to our Border shire such sons were born
In silent homage stand, this wondrous morn.

So begins a poem by Sarah Barker entitled ‘To the Immortal Memory of the Warriors of the K.S.L.I.’. It comes from a book of her poems published some time in the 1930s and came to light after I saw another of her poems displayed in Coalbrookdale church near to their war memorial. It is crammed full of patriotic verse about the royal family, the empire, famous British victories etc, but the most interesting section to me was one dedicated to Shropshire soldiers who fell in the Great War and community war memorials in the east of the county (where she seems to have lived). There are individual poems about the memorial tablets in Dawley church and Ironbridge Wesleyan chapel, the memorial bells in Ironbridge church, the main memorials at Coalbrookdale and Ironbridge and Wellington memorial lych gate as well as others with titles such as ‘The Poppy’ and ‘The Great Silence Day’. It may not be the greatest poetry ever written and is very much of its time but has an undeniable poignancy which still shines through. These lines are from ‘Dawley Memorial to the Fallen’:

When the setting of sun the Wrekin emblazons -
We’ll think of the “Dauntless” who loved its fair height
Who left its sweet shadow, their homes and their kindred,
For Dawley, for empire, for world’s weal to fight.

The book is simply called ‘Poems’ and is available - for reference only - from Shrewsbury library’s Literature collection.

The China-British air squadron

A recent visit to High Ercall church provided an opportunity to see a memorial scroll to the men of the “China-British Fighter Squadron” which had always fascinated me. It was tucked away in a side chapel but nevertheless was a beautiful sight. It lists around 80 airmen who died in the 2WW with a wealth of detail such as the circumstances in which they died, memorials on which they are listed, where they came from, where buried and even their nicknames. Two (F/O Robertson & Sgt McCuaigh) died in a collision which killed them both. The Chinese connection is marked by the Sqn crest which includes a scroll with Chinese script on it, their motto ‘Rise from the East’ and a poem entitled ‘ The China Brits’ the last verse of which runs:

We who are left are no longer of their age, as once we were,
Yet we remember that once they flew beside us, wing to wing.
Now they keep formation in our hearts.

Some research on my return revealed that No. 247 (China-British) Sqn was so named “in recognition of donations made by the British colonies which, at the outbreak of the 2WW, were established on the Chinese coast”. It was first formed at the end of the 1WW when it used flying boats in its role of reconnaissance and anti-submarine work in the North Sea, but disbanded in 1919. At the outbreak of the 2WW, the sqn was re-formed to fly Gloster Gladiator bi-planes to defend the south west of England. A move to High Ercall airfield came in Sept 1942 and No 247 was heavily involved in attacks prior to and including D-Day. After the War, the Sqn became the first unit to operate the de Havilland Vampire jet fighter and formed part of the UK’s air defence in the early years of the Cold War, finally disbanding in 1963. Apparently the Chinese characters on its badge read ‘fierce wind’. For more information, try:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._247_Squadron_RAF

There’s a book out there called ‘Rise from the East: The Story of No. 247 (China-British) Sqn’ by David Marchant which I shall make every effort to locate. I don’t suppose anyone has a copy!?