Fifty One Squadron

DESCRIPTION: "Fifty-one squadron, Fifty-one men, Fly over Germany and fly back again." They aren't there to fight but "to have a go And put a bit of action in the Goering show" in their Whitley bombers. "And they all think that they're the ones who're coming back"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1967 (Ward-Jackson/Lucas-AirmansSongBook)
KEYWORDS: pilot technology travel derivative
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ward-Jackson/Lucas-AirmansSongBook, p. 203, "Fifty One Squadron" (1 text)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The King's Horses, The King's Men" (tune)
NOTES [212 words]: There seems to be a little fatalism in this song about the odds of the aircraft returning home -- understandably, given that the Whitley bomber simply wasn't very good; for background on it, see, e.g. "Ops in a Whitley."
There are several songs that are, or might be, "The King's Horses, The King's Men," the tune listed by Ward-Jackson/Lucas-AirmansSongBook, but I'm fairly sure the ome mean is "The King's Horses (And the King's Men," by Noel Gay and Harry Graham, listed in the sheet music as a "Fox-Trot Song" and copyright 1930. This parody is notably close to the original, which begins
The King's Horses! The King's Men!
March down the street and then march back again.
The King's Horses and the King's Men!
They're in scarlet, they're in gold,
All dollied up, it's a joy to behold.
The King's Horses and the King's Men!
They're not out to fight the foe,
You might think so, but Oh! Dear no!
They're out because they've got to go
To put a little pep into the Lord Mayor's show.
It's their duty, now and then,
To march down the street, and march back again....
Ward-Jackson/Lucas-AirmansSongBook list Cicely Courtneidge (1893-1980) as having sung this, but I find no mention of it on her Wikipedia page; it doesn't seem to have been one of her more popular songs. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.8
File: WJL203

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