120211 - THESE ARE BUT WORDS: An Anthology of Bomber Command Poems

Collected by Ken Marshall and Steve Allen

Someone once said that there'd be no great poetry from the Second World War such as there was after the First. The poems in this collection have proved this to be a fallacy. The attrition of Bomber Command aircrew probably came closer to emulating the carnage of trench warfare on the Western Front than any other campaign, and the emotions and impressions of those serving are captured in stark reality by the words contained in this anthology.Almost all the poems were written by Bomber Command airmen at the time, or whilst their ordeal was still fresh in their minds. It is heartfelt, poignant and intensely moving; at times it also reflects the humour and determination of a breed of very young men and women who were, without a doubt, our greatest generation.Steve Allen and Ken Marshall started collecting Bomber Command poems when they discovered each had a close relative who had served on bombers and had also written poems about their experiences. It's been a labour of love and respect for the brave boys (for that's all they were back then), of Bomber Command. These may just be words, as the title suggests, but they are words that sit righfully along the equally magnificent men of the previous generation such as Rupert Brooke, John Macrae and Wilfred Owen, whose own works are celebrated.Read, be moved and remember.