I remember the ‘Vampires’, ‘Meteors’ & ‘Canberras”,
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
That flew to Richmond, overhead;
I remember praying, to then God of mine,
One might land – in a paddock near my bed…
For I lived in open spaces,
To the north of Parramatta town,
In my flush of youthful innocence,
I didn’t recognise danger – should a pilot be forced to ‘down’!
The era was the nineteen-fifties,
Their livery, a silver ‘Ally’ sheen;
A metal, favoured by manufacturers,
For it was light & strong & clean!
They ‘looked the part’, at airshows,
All sleek & magic to be around;
Crowds jostled, at the R.A.A.F. airbase…
To be beside, those airplanes on the ground.
In those far gone days of memory
And to the best I can recall,
I watched in rapture, as a young lad might,
To the displays, of loop & bank & stall…
But for me it was the ‘Sabre’.
With it’s swept-back clean of line –
A design, preceding the dreams of utzon,
Ooh the ‘Sabre’….was the absolute pick for mine!
One year, the radio boasted an announcement,
That as part of a grand display…
A ‘Sabre’, would break the ‘sound-barrier’.
A trick, they’d not ever consider to-day!
For what was largely, rural landscape,
Is now ‘McMansions’, cheek by jowl;
The roar of diving aircraft….and the ‘bang’,
Would surely see: protest, whinge & howl!
Kids these days would call it ‘awesome’.
We were ‘gob-smacked’, that’s for sure!
To watch that baby, do it’s thing,
In a dive, then roll, then soar.
Aah – but ‘tis so very easy, to forget one vital thing:
Brace pilots, made those aircraft fly!
So I salute, all those Aussie blokes and gals who served….
And proudly flew….
A-’cross’, our Southern sky!
“I Remember – Lest We Forget!”
BOB McMILLAN
BRAVEHEART
GRENFELL