On a summer’s day
You sat opposite me
In a Tea Shop near the sea.
You had no hands
But you managed well
As far as I could see.
Plastic fingers on each metal hand
coped well with food
And I wondered how they would do
with silver sand
on our sunlit beach
with buttons and shoes
and the toilet
and holding your baby
and loving your wife
in bed
and did you mind me staring?
Were you I wondered
one of the Battle of Britain ‘FEW’?
Did you in another age say
WIZARD PRANG and BOMBS AWAY?
I search your face for a clue.
Did everything used to be
PUKKA GEN in 1939?
Did you see the HUN
At TWELVE O’CLOCK
as you flew into the English sun?
Your face is so guarded,
a tight sad mask
I don’t want to intrude
But I’ve got to ask,
Was it All dear friend
A JOLLY GOOD SHOW
So very long ago?
Babs Diplock was in the WAAF (Women’s Auxiliary Air
Force) during the war, which comprised 15+% of the RAF.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_Auxiliary_Air_Force
From The Myth of the Blitz by Angus Carter
page 104-5
