Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth, and danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings; Sunward I've climbed and joined the tumbling mirth of sun-split clouds — and done a hundred things You have not dreamed of — wheeled and soared and swung high in the sunlit silence. Hovering there I’ve chased the shouting wind along and flung my eager craft through footless halls of air.
So begins the poem “High Flight” by Pilot Officer John Gillespie Magee Jr., an American who served with the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War. Written around September 1941, the poem has since been used to commemorate aviators and astronauts.
It has also been used to honour the Battle of Britain, the first major military campaign of that war fought entirely by air forces. Running from July 10, 1940 to Oct. 31, 1940, the offensive saw Nazi Germany attempt to eliminate the Royal Air Force as a preamble to invading Great Britain.
More than 100 Canadians from the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) participated in the battle, with 23 dying during the campaign. A total of 574 other airmen from other countries also supported the RAF at that time.
The climax of the battle was Sept. 15, 1940, when Allied aircraft repulsed two massive waves of German attacks.
Afterward, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill uttered his now-famous phrase about the campaign: “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.”
Canada’s last surviving Battle of Britain pilot was Squadron Leader John Stewart Hart, who died at age 102 on June 18, 2019.
On Sept. 20, 15 Wing Air Base commemorated the 80th anniversary of the battle by holding a scaled-down ceremony due to the pandemic. The RCAF and other military organizations normally honour this anniversary on the third Sunday of September.
Usually, dozens of people would descend upon the base to take part, but this year, only a handful of people were on hand, with the ceremony livestreamed online. 15 Wing Chaplain Capt. Rev. Eric Davis was event MC, Second World War veteran Flight Lt. Allan Cameron read out the names of the 23 Canadians who died in the battle, and base commander Col. Ron Walker gave a description of the battle.
Also during the ceremony, a Snowbird pilot read the poem “High Flight,” Davis read “The Airman’s Prayer,” and members from the Royal Canadian Legion and RCAF laid wreaths.
Before the event, Walker explained that his first experience with the ceremony was in 1993 when he was a brand-new lieutenant who had received his wings the previous May. One of his first duties was to act as wing commander for the event.
“It was a great feeling,” he said. “It’s one of the most moving ceremonies for me to be there. You feel a great sense of pride in what was accomplished by so few people (who) essentially saved the world and allow us to live the way we do today.”
One reason to remember this battle is that the campaign can teach us how so few people can achieve something monumental, Walker remarked. It shows the importance of commitment and standing up for your beliefs, while it also demonstrates bravery and sacrifice. These are values that still resonate today in the Canadian Forces.
“We take this as an example of what can be done, and what needs to be done when we’re pushed up against an enemy like that, that is unyielding and unwilling,” said Walker. “We need to do what has to be done. The sacrifice they made and bravery they showed during that time specifically is memorable and inspiring.”
One objective at 15 Wing is to provide pilot and officer education, so during his conversations with trainees, Walker attempts to inspire the new pilots to have a sense of duty and loyalty to the RCAF by harkening back to the accomplishments of the past.
The fact the Battle of Britain was the first offensive fought entirely by air forces shows today’s students what can be done with airpower, he added. This campaign is a case study of what can be done in the modern world.
Gillespie Magee Jr. concluded his poem by writing, Up, up the long delirious burning blue I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace, where never lark, or even eagle, flew; and, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod the high untrespassed sanctity of space, put out my hand and touched the face of God.
