Killed by Enemy Action
Ghosts of the Blitz
Running along the cemetery path,
swaying trees, over gravestones, sharp shadows cut,
“Killed by enemy action,” on the stones inscribed.
Two friends, we run, a child’s fear of the dark,
the moon is white, there is no sound,
the cemetery path, a haunted night.
We scream in fear, skidding over damp leaves,
along rows of marble slabs; the Luftwaffe’s gift,
we call, “Awake, children, your friends are here. ”
On this white night, we call ghosts to arise,
but sadly comforted when they do not appear,
they are happy in heaven, we are reassured.
Fleeing the night, then giggling our relief,
home by bedtime, flushed cheeks, and the guilt;
did we mock the children's death or our own?
Author’s Note
During the Blitz, over 44,000 British citizens were killed, of whom 7,736 were children.
As a child growing up in London after WWII, the adults never spoke of the horrors that had rained down on our neighbourhood. We learned about the Blitz from the bomb sites where we played, the shelters in the back gardens, and the rows of graves all with the same inscription — “Killed by enemy action”.
