He flew above a ship beneath a kite
At Mons he spotted guns from a balloon
He saw the Somme from high above the fight
When just a child he'd dreamt about the moon
Before the world was shrunk to modern size
He flew between two wings of wood and wire
An airscrew to attach him to the skies
A love of danger served to drive him higher
The Second War with submarines to chase
And then he showed "Short Hoppers" the Azores
He always knew the enemy to face
Bill Wilmshurst flew throughout the two World Wars
He must have had a history to tell
But Grandpa died before I knew him well
Author notes
"Short Hoppers" Were American delivery pilots who flew bombers and flying boats across the various shortest hops to get to Britain during the Second World War.
W/Cdr F W Wilmshurst was my Mother's father who joined the Royal Navy as a "boy" to learn to fly. He was seconded to the BEF in 1914 and earned his Mons Star at the First British action in 1914 and was still in action on VE day in 1945 by which time he was in charge of signals on the Azores.
Please tell me what you think
Comments
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Great write about an amazing man and a truly brave one too-
I never met my grandfather but he survived the Somme-he sent messages through his pigeons from the front-there is a special name for it but it escapes me-
whoops I'm rambling off!!
xxx Bumpy -
Indeed Sue said it best so I will just dust off my sleeves and move on. Great sonnet of love for Grandpa.
Love
Passions
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A beautiful sonnet, very fitting for an extraordinary man, who you hold in very high esteem and love dearly.
He sounds as though he would have many a tale to tell and would have held you spell bound by his words.
Thank you for sharing a little bit of your life with us.
Sue
xxx
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