Whizzing through the azure blue
In an aeroplane, say you.
Must of sports the nicest be;
So it is, but then, you see,
The only part that can give pain
Is the return to earth again.
Got on splendidly to-day. Went solo all right. This type is much nicer to handle than the other, but you land faster owing to higher speed. This I managed so well that Sergeant —— clapped his hands and said “Very good!”
* * * * *
The wind has been blowing.
Ye gods! How it blew!
Stopped bicycles going.
Not one pilot flew.
Up above—eighty-five!
Down below it blew—well—
In this place dead ’n’ alive
It is absolute ——!
(Deleted by R.F.C. Censor as not being sufficiently expressive.) However, we attended a very boring lecture, and walked through slud and mush at drill time; so we have not done so badly.
* * * * *
Some poets say,
As well they may,
Congenial surroundings
Conduce a lay
With rhythm gay,
And artful phrase compoundings
With helpful muse
To air their views
On Nature’s grand aboundings.
E’en so as joy and sorrow
Do in cases bring forth tears
(A simile to borrow),
In this case it now appears
No sunshine sets the muse to work
In humble little me;
’Tis wind, and rain, and fogs that lurk
Drive me to poesy.
* * * * *
Cleaning wires with emery paper is grand exercise, albeit a trifle monotonous. However, the pay (15s. 6d. a day) is good. And as we pass we hear the voice of R—— weeping for his pupils (which are not) and will not be comforted.