5 BFTS Association Newsletter No.29 - Autumn 2024

Cadets came to America from all parts of the United Kingdom – England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Irrespective of their home country, all the cadets thought of their families and things that made their homeland special. As we approach Remembrance Sunday (or Veterans’ Day), we remember those cadets who forever remain in America, those who lie in a foreign field and those with no known grave. We also remember those cadets who came home but now have ‘handed in their logbooks’. Each one had their own special memories of home as they embarked on the long journey to America and later as pilots, these memories went with them when they left on a mission often without knowing exactly what they would encounter and whether they would return. John Barber’s father (Dennis Barber) was on Course 26 at 4BFTS. His mother wrote this beautiful poem and for many years, John, who lives in Arizona, has read it in the RAF Remembrance Sunday service in Mesa where 23 cadets are buried. It is about England, but could equally apply to many parts of the UK. Oh England…can you keep for me, the dancing daffodilsThat frolic in the long, green grass upon the rolling hills.The cherry and the apple trees, that shower blossoms on the breezeIn the old orchard by the lane.England – ‘til I come againEngland can you keep for me the bluebells in the dellDown by the stream where nightingales and silver birches dwell?The lilac by the garden wall, letting its scented dew drops fall,With the laburnum’s golden rainEngland – ‘til I come again.England if they all must fade as summer passes byAnd leaves turn gold and brown beneath the autumn sky,Then keep for me if I come lateOne rose, beside the wicket gateTo sooth my yearning heart o’pain…England – when I come again. ‘Their efforts to preserve the freedom of the world were not in vain and will never be forgotten.’