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Old 28 October 2009, 08:14 PM   #4 (permalink)
Gregvan
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Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: St. Charles, Iowa
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Hi There,

According to author (and Oral Historian of the IWM) Peter Hart, in his superb book Bloody April; Slaughter in the Skies Over Arras, pages 298-299, this poem was written by one of Mannock's squadron mates in 40 Sqdn: "One rather clever parody of Edward Lear's Jabberwocky written by Captain William Bond, was popular in the 40 Squadron mess. It was prompted by the success of a BE2e in shooting down an Albatros....(Hart then quotes the poem in full)...Lieutenant Edward Mannock obviously must have appreciated this 'nonsense; because a copy of Bond's parody remains attached to his diary deep in the bowels of the RAF Museum to this very day."

So, I'm not sure who's right. However, I love the poem....
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