ON January 11, 1944, in the officers' mess at RAF Bardney in Lincolnshire, there was a plaque above the IX squadron crest which read: Target for tonight.

The crest motto was "per noctum volamus" (Through the night we fly).

The squadron claimed that they were the bats in Adolf's belfry.

The words "There's always bloody something", plus a list of 80 targets and several officers commanding past and present, completed the inscription.

This is my poem to commemorate that time.

There's always bloody something to do,

For creatures of the sky,

The bats and the crews of nine squadron,

Who through the night must fly.

Bombs gone skipper, those three wondrous words,

Followed by back to base,

The return from hell over Hamburg,

Still more dangers to face.

An engine failure, fatigue and fear,

German fighters and flak,

Six boys had set out for Germany,

Six full grown men came back.

Back in Bardney they crawled into bed,

Bedside an empty space,

Hoping that tomorrow they will see,

The fellow flyer's face.

Instead of a replacement from school,

Nervous, naive, polite,

Death's always bloody lurking up there,

For those who fly at night.

by BRIAN ELLIS

Hull