Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth…Put out my hand, and touched the face of God. Inscription John Gillespie Magee’s headstone.
John Gillespie Magee, the RCAF pilot who wrote the celebrated poem High Flight on the back of a letter he sent to his parents, was subject of a special commemoration in Britain on the 70th anniversary of his death Dec. 11.
His sonnet is the official poem of both the Royal Canadian Air Force and Britain’s Royal Air Force.
Born in Shanghai, China in 1922, Magee enlisted in Canada and signed up for pilot training, receiving his wings in June 1941. He was inspired to write the poem during a high altitude test flight in a Spitfire V on Sept. 3, and finished it shortly after landing. On Dec. 11, he was killed when his Spitfire collided with an Oxford Trainer in Lincolnshire. He was too close to the ground for his parachute to open.
He was 19 years old.
Photo: www.bombercommandmuseum.ca
There are several video readings of the poem, but this one features Spitfire footage:
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