Battle of Britain Print
and Verse

"Going Home"

M: in the series "Echoes of the Home Front by John Howard Worsley

P/O John Davey dies in his Hawker Hurricane after a forced landing in which he avoided a child.

Extract from the Story-Sheet:

On the 11th August 1940, P/O John Davey flying a Hurricane of No1 Sqn out of Tangmere was invoved in an aerial dogfight off the west coast of the Isle of Wight. John's Merlin engine was damaged by defensive fire from the Luftwaffe and, escorted by another Hurricane pilot, John Davey attempted to save his aircraft by landing it near Sandown on the Isle of Wight.

This is my painting and tribute to John Davey and all the other brave pilots who gave so much.

Pilot Officer John A. J. Davey

Leamington, Warks - RAF College Cranwell - Battle of Britain

 

The order came "Make Angels"

Climb hard, confront the foe

From Portland to the west of Wight

The battle raged, the chase was on,

John's Brownings barked on sight and then,....

The deadly din was gone.

 

With Merlin spiked by cannon fire

A buddy by his side.

The boy of twenty made for base

But base became beyond be yon

Too far to reach that haven place.....

That too was also gone

 

A final bid to set her down

Success was almost there

But snaring scrub, a child at play

Hard brakes, nose down in dust upon...

... the field it fell and lay, and then,....

The final chance was gone

 

To hear bird song, a baby's cry

The key of manhood's door

The pass from chapter to the next

That book would never be for John

Young life's unwritten text all gone,....

What might have been, all gone

 

The hood jammed fast and fire came

A way he couldn't find

His sacrifice for us he paid

Now hills and woods he'll never roam

Another angel made .........

Gone home, gone home, gone home

Available as hand mounted prints 10" x 8" , 14" x 11" & 20" x 16".

Also available to order as Canvas Repro' :

Click here for epic verse by John Howard Worsley