The first night that the bombers' engines filled the silence of the skies,
Lovers kissed and looked each other in the eyes
For what they knew might be the last time.

And heroes readied
And heeded the battle call-
And engines roared to life as the pilots took off; brave men all.

Bombs would fall that night,
In the midst of the great fight,
Many innocents would die below.

And though many were slain
Despite sacrifice and pain-
The city would pull through the night.

Many more nights would come
Where the bombers would return,
And tracer fire and spotlights and engines together would all burn.

The last thread between
Total victory of the cruel,
“The skies above London must remain under British rule!”

And so every time the alarm tore through the calm of the night,
Fathers, sons, and husbands must go to join the fight
And avenge every death with a million more.

When finally the smoke and dust and engine grease had cleared,
Over a hundred score of twisted bombers lay in the earth,
And the fire still burned in England's hearth.

And now here I stand in this field of shallow graves
Among the spirits of heroes who for their country gave their life,
Who fought so that our world may someday be free of strife.

And the battered, tired heroes smile
When the see the world today-
For Europe is free of the evil that once threatened the human race
Thanks to those brave pilots who fought to save our souls.