Peter Wyton
Smoking the Hose
They found him in a borrowed M.T. vehicle
behind the rifle range, the hose-pipe sagging on his lap,
Notification of Discharge documents on the passenger seat.
Someone switched off the ignition. A runner bolted
to the nearest telephone. Birdsong. Indistinct tramp
of flights en route to Saturday parade. Ambulance wail.
Once they had stashed him in the morgue,
they went through the Procedures. Station Commander,
Air Ministry informed. Records inspected. C of E.
No Next Of Kin. Pre-war enlistment. Mespot. Gibraltar.
Tangmere during Battle of Britain. Post-war, Lebanon.
The Canal Zone. Usual decorations. Then they opened
up his bunk. Found his possessions properly laid out.
Bed-pack immaculate. Boots bulled. Brass-ware polished.
They wrote an inventory. Socks, service-pattern, pairs, four.
Shirts, collarless, four. Braces, elastic.
Vests, cotton, three. Drawers, cellular, pairs, three.
Buttonstick. Housewife. Cap S.D.
Knife. Fork. Spoon. Plate, enamel. No mufti.
Everything fitted snugly in the regulation kit-bag,
which they carried down to Stores. A civvy signed for it,
hefted it off the counter, took it round the back
and dumped it in the bay marked Dead Men’s Kit.
Page(s) 13
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