A Reflection
by Willie Waldram
I'll think of you dear KLB (1)
Again some future day,
When the world is gay and free
And I am so far away.
Of those long appells in pouring
With neither boots nor shoes,
And the SS guards who counted us
Hitting whom they choose.
When I bounce my children on my knee
I'll think of the Gypsy kids,
Who, instead of wearing ball and chain,
Should have been wearing bibs.
When I Lay in my cosy bed at night
I'll think of your hard boards,
With a single blanket to cover us,
And fleas and lice in hordes.
Ironically, I'll think of how
You took our dog-tags from us,
'Nix soldat-civil' you said,
Smiling fanatically at us.
Yes, you gave us soup and enough black bread
To etch out a mere existence,
Enough to keep us wanting more
And weaken our resistance
How two of our number lost their lives
For lack of medical aid;
You wouldn't even give them food
To help save them from the grave
(1) In the poem written by the rear gunner, William Waldram,
KLB is an abbreviation for Konzentrationslager Buchenwald
(Translation: Buchenwald concentration camp)
(Note: At one meeting in Stalag Luft 3, it was agreed to design a club pin. The winning design, put forward by Bob Taylor from Great Britain, showed a naked, winged foot, symbolising the airmen's barefoot condition while in the concentration camp. The foot is chained to a ball bearing the letters KLB, with the whole mounted on a white star, which was the crest of the Allied invasion forces. Canadian airman William Arthur “Willie” Waldram also wrote the poem titled A Reflection, about Buchenwald. On the night of 19 October, 156 of the 168 airmen were transferred from Buchenwald to Stalag Luft III by the Luftwaffe. Two airmen died of sickness at Buchenwald, while the remaining 10 were transported in small groups over a period of several weeks.)
