Poem

Dear Hugh,
Thank you for sharing this poem; I found some of it quite evocative, even beautiful...
The following is from Martin Middlebrook's THE NUREMBURG RAID (William Morrow & Company, 1974) (BTW, it was Middlebrook who also gave us THE FIRST DAY ON THE SOMME):
{the very last passage from chapter 3, "Bomber Command"}
"How many had survived? Based on the overall 1939-45 casualty figures for both aircraft and aircrews, the table below is an estimate of what happened to any 100 aircrew who first joined up into heavybomber crews at an Operatinal Training Unit and for whom the war lasted long enough for them to serve the full cycle of service with Bomber Command.
Killed on operations 51
Killed in crashes in England 9
Seriously injured in crashes 3
Prisoners-of-war (some injured) 12
Shot down but evaded capture 1
Survived unharmed 24"