WILLIE GREEN'S FLYING MACHINE

By Emmett Dedmon submitted by John Welles
(Originally published in Courage, Honor, Victory)

This is the fable of Willie Green
Who invented a kriegie flying machine,
'Tis as weird a tale as ever you heard
Yet I'll swear by the truth of every word.

 The man who first heard it, suspicious as I,
Swore by his chocolate 'twas all a great lie,
But imagine his surprise, the gleam in his eyes,
When Willie's machine was seen to fly.

The parts were gathered-'tis no secret now
But Willie alone knows the secret how.
They were hidden away in corners and places
While he carved away on the spars and braces.

The tin can piles were low indeed
When W. G. performed his deed
There is still talk of that famous day
As the last Klim-can was hidden away.

The engine was the first of the plane to be made
With crankshaft of steel from the missing spade
While in Klim-can cylinders with mighty sound
The butter can pistons went up and down. 

The flashy propellor so aerodynamic
Was carved from a board in the barracks attic
While this peculiar strand that made the ignition
Was a length of barbed wire from the compound partition.

 Fuel was no problem for a man with a head
And Willie got gas from cabbage and bread.
In case of emergency, Willie held
The thing could easily be rocket propelled.

 The side of the bed the fuselage made
The stick, the handle of the fore-mentioned spade
The instruments, it could be seen at a glance,
Was none other than the seat of Willie's pants.

Two locker doors the wings did make
With dihedral taper and negative rake
And a Red Cross box from a racket source
Serve as a tail for his flying horse.

 The question of wheels was mighty hot
Till Willie remembered the communal pot
While Kriegies were wondering how it disappeared
Willie's machine became tricycle geared. 

There were no guns on Willie's steed
Its only defense was its excessive speed
To weight down the tail our hero used
A size "12" pair of British shoes. 

And when it was done our Willie cried,
"Enough, enough, I'm satisfied."
And one dark night when conditions were best
Willie's machine was put to the test.

The prop turned over, the engine caught,
"Ah," said Willie, " 'twas not for naught."
The plane jumped forward, started to fly
And was over the fence in the wink of an eye. 

The guard yelled "Verboten" and started to shoot
But all his efforts were as good as "Kapoot."
Willie flew on and into the dark
Toward Ellis Island and Battery Park. 

The plane flew on until Willie spied
The lights that mark the other side.
He felt so good, and oh so free
His Red Cross box fell into the sea. 

A crowd was there when he landed his crate.
"Where am I?" he asked. "It sure looks great."
"Why where," they cried, "were you headed for?"
"This my boy ... is Stalag Luft Four."