American Squadron Songs
 

Hello,

Just to keep this section of the Forum alive, I thought I'd point out that American squadron histories frequently contain the words to songs that were popular in the squadron mess. These were usually sung to familiar tunes; they don't have sheet music, but perhaps someone could find the original songs. Here's one from the 135th Aero Squadron, an observation unit that flew DH4 "Liberty Planes". The reference to a "Sop" is to the outdated and worn out French-built Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutters that many Americans trained on, and that a few units actually flew in combat.

AN OBSERVER's SONG
(sung to the tune of: 'Where do we go from here, boys.)

Mother put out your golden star,
Your son's going up in a Sop;
The wings are weak, the ship's a freak.
She's got a rickety prop.
The motor's junk, the pilot's drunk,
He's sure to take a flop-
So, Mother put out your golden star
Your son's going up in a Sop.

Here's another:

OBSERVER'S SONG

I want to go home, I want to go home.
The DHs whistle, the Salmsons they roar,
I don't want to ride in a Breguet no more.
Take me over the sea,
Where the wild pilots can't get at me.
Oh my, I'm too young to die,
I want to go home.

:D

Hi Again,

Here's a song from the history of the 90th Aero. They flew Salmson 2A2 machines, so they must have enjoyed singing this one about the DH4 "Flaming Coffins".

THE FESTIVE AIRMEN

We're going to blind the enemy, so all the papers say;
We fly the festive Liberty, we're missing the next day;
A bullet in our gas tank, we kiss the world good-by;
They say it's for democracy, and we fall from the sky.

CHORUS:
For we're the airmen, the festive airmen,
Perhaps we never should have flown, for our ships were made at home,
For we're the airmen, the festive airmen,
We invite you all to come and fly the ship called Liberty.

We are a bunch of ambusques, so all the doughboys say;
We live a life of luxury and draw our flying pay;
We fly up to their trenches, and when we're overhead,
They point their machine guns at us and fill us full of lead.

CHORUS

We get into a scrap each day, six Fokkers on our tail,
We see the tracers streaming by, they shot away our tail;
We bring old Fritzie down in flames, we see him kiss the ground;
They say for confirmation, "The archies brought him down."

CHORUS

Repeat the first verse.


Greg

Greg- The one the Jastas sang about the early SSW D.III to the tune of 10 little Indians was cute, too. Where did you dig up those songs? Must have been sung in between playing bouts of "dead bug".

Taz
Terry Phillips

Terry, I'd love to have the words to the above song that you mentioned. Would you happen to have it, or a link perhaps? Thanks.

Kate

Kate,

It's actually not really a song, just a poem the JG II pilots made up, based on the 10 Little Indians. It was translated from the German by Rick Duiven - to him goes all the credit:

Ten little Siemens were circling around a barn,
A piston ring froze up, nine were left without harm.
Nine little Siemens were playing out to join the hunt,
The spark plugs flew away from one, eight are left to hunt.
Eight little Siemens, they flew up very high,
A piston went out fast, now only seven are all right.
Seven little Siemens were flying on top of a spot,
The magneto didn't turn on one, only six are left on lot.
From six little Siemens flew out one with red socks.
Connecting rod salad right away, only five came back to box.
Five little Siemens we still have left to fly,
A throttle valve failed, but four still take the sky.
Four little Siemens were flying high and free,
A cylinder turned blue, we now only have three.
Three little Siemens are going very fast,
The bearings go out quickly, only two who pass the test.
Two little Siemens, flying lonely like father and son,
An engine seizes completely tight, and now there's only one.
One little Siemens went up in brave salute,
He came up only 3000 meters and now too is kaputt!

The moral of the poem was, "For us an engine that devours itself so quickly is useless."

The original of this poem was found in Hanns Möller's book "Kampf und Sieg eines Jagdgeschwaders", published in Berlin in 1939, also published under the simple title "JG 2". Rick first translated it for use in his excellent three-part article on JG II which appeared in "Over the Front", Vols. 9 and 10.

Of course, I could just have told you to buy "Jagdgeschwader Nr II, Geschwader 'Berthold'" from Osprey! Hope you like the poem.

Greg VanWyngarden