This is a little poem (and not quite PC) I found:www.koi-hai.com… respect stories and facts about Burma during the war. I have copied the introduction (in italics).
Whilst on holiday in Cyprus last month, we met Bert Peers who turned out to be quite a character! He entertained us for many hours with his poems and extracts from Kipling, etc. One in particular took our fancy, “Errol Flynn and me” – so much so that he sent us a copy because of my Burma connection. I have checked with Bert, and he is to quote:- “quite happy for you to spread his poem but wants to point out that he wrote it as a skit after seeing the film ‘Burma Victory’ (sic) ‘Objective Burma’ which apparently anyone who was there during the War absolutely hated.”
I thought Objective Burma was great!
HOW WE WON THE WAR IN BURMA
-just Errol Flynn – and me.
The war in Europe was ending in the winter of ‘44
I thought that I had done my bit but the Air Force wanted more;
They said that now the Jerries had been beaten well and true,
It’s time the Japs were taught just what a Yorkshire lad can do;
And so they then decided before the battle could begin
They’d send for reinforcements – me and Errol Flynn.
They sent us off to Chittagong and on to Cox’ Bazaar,
We flew right down from Ramree, it wasn’t very far,
They said that we should both report to Burma GHQ
As the brass hats at the centre really hadn’t got a clue,
So they then decided we should help out General Slim
And so we went to meet him – me and Errol Flynn.
‘At last’, said Bill we’ve got a chance now that you lads have arrived,
We’ll give the Japs a shake up, a mighty big surprise;
We’ll chase the blighters all the way from Magwe down to Prome
Those little yellow perils will wish they had stayed at home
So come on lads get cracking if battle you would win
We only needed you to come – you and Errol Flynn
So we chased them all the morning, – we were feeling very warm;
We chased through the evening, through night until the dawn,
We chased them through the jungle ‘till we came to old Pegu,
And the Japanese commander just knew not what to do
His Generals suggested that they might as well give in
When they were told that what they faced was me and Errol Flynn.
A few snags we encountered as we advanced all that day,
A Nip armoured division we swept out of our way
Some Geisha girls the Japs then sent to try to halt our push,
And some 40,000 Japanese were trampled in the rush
And who was in the forefront with a beatific grin
None other than yours truly, yes me and Errol Flynn.
Those Geisha girls were lovely, and we really made them swoon
They said that they would wait for us when we finally reached Rangoon
So we pressed on forward our just reward to take
We had Banana money and my mother’s Christmas cake
To take advantage of those girls, it really was a sin
But we were hard, the two of us – me and Errol Flynn.
At last the Japs surrendered, you could see they’d had enough,
They had run the length of Burma, and were feeling pretty rough;
Mountbatten took their swords from them, for that really was his due
And looked around to see who he would present them to
And then he smiled; ‘They go to those who have set Burma free’
And so he gave those Nippon swords to Errol Flynn and me.
— Maria
Errol really got a bad rap on this. He and Raoul made a great movie, with the best of intentions, I believe – in tribute to Merrill’s Marauders, one of the most heroic fighting forces in U.S. Army history. The British were heroic, too, of course, but without Gen. Joe Stillwell (who the Marauders fought for) many of the surviving Brits would likely never made it out of those Burkes jungles.
www.merrillsmarauderspd.org…
The real shock (and boffo/propaganda flop) would have been if Hollywood had made a completely historically accurate film. That would be as rare as reading an accurate book on the history of the British Empire in the Buckingham Palace Library! Can you imagine how many of the countries the British have conquered and exploited feel about Britain’s often-inaccurate accounts of history!?!
[img]http://www.merrillsmarauderspd.org/Welcome_files/shapeimage_2.png[/img]
P. S. Fueling much of this was the British establishment’s dislike of Errol because of what they perceived as anti – colonial and pro-Irish sentiments. His anti – authoritarian ways openly mocked and threatened them. He really very much was like the Robin Hood he portrayed, speaking treason against archaic royal and imperialistic ways quite fluently.
That’s not to take anything away from the brave Brits who sacrificed so heroically in Burma. They should be praised. Why didn’t Britain make their own versions Objective Burma!, U-571, or Saving Private Ryan??? That’s how the world works and much better than complaining about Errol Flynn, who had no pretensions as a war hero, as his music video below very humorously confirms!
Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943): youtu.be/DydLj5UsQuQ…
After watching “Sink the Bismark” with Grandchild #1 and explaining what happened (we also watched Robert Ballard’s finding of the Bismark wreck) I would say that Britain did make some excellent movies (after the war) depicting events during the War – however during the early days of the actual war I don’t think that was much of a priority.
However I do have 2 favorites made specifically during the war :
49th Parallel -released in 1941 (titled The Invaders in the U.S)
en.wikipedia.org…
Raymond Massey is in that one as the AWOL Canadian Soldier – he played John Brown in “Santa Fe Trail” and has pleasant recollections of working with Errol as written in his memoirs.
One of Our Aircraft is Missing- made in 1942
Errol would have been great in both of those! No problems with his accent either. I know that he considered Objective Burma one of his favorites and well he should –
Congratulation Maria;
What a great find and more so – what a most delightful Poem, I love it!
You sure find very interesting information and you are certainly a great sleuth!
Thanks Tina – I came across it by accident. After I posted it I realized that it was not “Delightful” but I just thought the poem itself was fun. It was written as a skit – I can just see it on the stage – but Errol would have to come in at the end to grab his sword, take a bow and receive the applause! I can see him being thrown out the window again too.
Yes, Maria it is very funny and very well composed.