29 JUNE 1944, Page 9

D DAY

To you, unknown, whom now I shall not know, I write these words in greeting and farewell ; A wreath to lay upon the quick-turned earth Which took and holds you in a quiet surprise Beneath the apple trees of Normandy, Beneath the apples fallen on the grass In June's unripeness from the broken boughs.

Hail and farewell to you, but what to her?

What can I twist from sharp and brittle words To lay upon the marble of her heart?

W. RUSSELL BRAIN.