Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Vision elevated and broad unto a Somme daybreak,
Above the fetid swamp, shell holes, splintered trunks,
Broad birds fly spirits out across the lighting sky,
Reaching out to defy the sun, the moon and the stars.

With their halcyon bloom reduced to a crawl,
The infantrymen longingly cast up their gaze,
Lofty dreams envisioning winged flying fish,
Yearning to soar over muddy, corrupted ground.

On canvas, wood and wires,
On the leading edge, a feather,
Knights cloaked with fine leather,
Who leave all their baggage behind.

Reach upward for the heavens,
Wave goodbye to the ground,
A farewell sealed with a kiss,
Sweet parting for joy or sorrow.

Bend through the sky, give a sigh,
Gazing into the beyond, until the end,
Some will unavoidably trip and stumble,
Some will fall, still waiting to be found.

Born to joust with a virtuous lance,
Casting shadows onto the eyes below,
Avoiding a fate shot birds, falling into mud,
Care not to partake in deaths truffled fondue.

A dive low from on high to avoid a mortal grasp,
Follow did the Red Baron, brought unwisely low,
Onto the sights of the waiting gunners below,
A luckily aimed shot was all that it took in the end.

Like many pilots in the post war years,
The skills acquired were beneficially applied,
Especially suited to our broad brown land,
Stretch histories shadow to futures promise.

By Evan Evans, November 2024.

For Flight Lt Thomas Leigh (Leigh) SIMPSON DFC and those still stuck in the mud.

Lt (TCapt) Thomas Leigh Simpson From: In Remembrance: Hungerford and Associated Families in the Great War 1914-1918

“From September 1917 he embarked for France and was posted near Flanders with the 3rd Squadron AFC. This was a reconnaissance unit flying RE8 planes in which he flew over 170 missions - taking photos behind the lines, monitoring artillery and later, training novice pilots. In April 1918, while stationed near Amiens, he was on a routine flight with another RE8 over the lines, when they were attacked by a group of German triplanes, the leader of which broke off to unsuccessfully attack Simpson, who eluded him in his awkward and outdated RE8 machine. The enemy group then left the fight to engage a group of British fighters, and during this dogfight the leader, Captain, Baron Von Richthofen, was killed by machine gun fire, low near the Somme River.”

After WWI, Leigh Simpson was also a pioneer in the commercial aviation industry. In early 1936 Reg Ansett purchased a six seat Fokker plane which flew the first commercial flight from Hamilton (Western Districts, Victoria) to Melbourne. In late 1936, Leigh became a shareholder and founding director in Ansett Airways Pty Ltd.

Bertangles Cemetery, France, 1918-04-22. Australian Flying Corps officers (AFC) hold wreaths at the burial of Baron Manfred Von Richthofen. Pictured left to right are: Captain Leigh Simpson, Lieutenants Malcolm Sheehan, Frank Mart and George Pickering. AWM P00743.039