Martial art
Sir: During the 1939-1945 war, their Lord- ships of the Admiralty sent newly commis- sioned Fleet Air Army officers, of whom they were understandably nervous, to the Royal Naval College at Greenwich, reput- edly to teach them to become gentlemen. Undergoing such a metamorphosis, I found myself sitting inside one of Sir Christopher Wren's domes, armed with a tin hat, a pair of binoculars and orders to push a button if a V1 rocket appeared. An anonymous pre- decessor had written the following on one of the beams:
What is this that roareth thus, Can it be a motor bus?
No, by God, this dreadful chug Indicates a doodlebug, So press the tit that sounds the klaxon And let's get the hell out of here, Jackson!
Perhaps steps should be taken to pre- serve this immortal, historic inscription if it is still there, lest the new tenants deface it.
Does this advance the researches in your recent Letters pages?
Andrew Moseley
The Dower House, Cirencester, Glos
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