A Goggelers’ Song.

I work at a Nursing home in Stow on the Wold. The following poem was written by a current resident at the home, when she was serving in the WRAF in the Autumn of 1944.

A Goggelers’ Song. (after Kipling)

If you wake at mid-night, and hear a fearful crash,
Don’t go drawing back the blind, or looking for a flash.
Them that takes no chances, isn’t going to die;
’Gainst the wall, my darling, while the Doodle-bugs go by!
B.B.C. and cronies
Will broadcast all the news,
Casualties and damage,
Unconflicting views;
Flashes for the Forcizz, nothing for the spy.
’Gainst the wall, my darling, while the Doodle-bugs go by!

Running round or queuing, if you chance to hear
Sirens wailing, local warning, don’t wait till they come near,
Don’t you shout to come and look, nor crowd with other folk
Go down in the shelter, and stay until they choke!

If you see where they come down, or know how many’s dead,
You be careful what you say, and deaf to what is said.
If they fall outside your house, and blow the windows in,
Don’t you tell where that one was, nor where it might have been.

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