The Forgotten Babe
John James
"Johnny" Berry
Survived the wreckage
Amidst the snows of
Munich
Though the crash
didn’t end his life
He never played again
Tuesday, 31 January 2023
JOHN JAMES "JOHNNY" BERRY (1 JUNE 1926 – 16 SEPTEMBER 1994)
JOHN "JACKIE" BLANCHFLOWER (7 MARCH 1933 – 2 SEPTEMBER 1998)
Nicknamed "Twiggy"
John
"Jackie" Blanchflower
Survived the wreckage
Amidst the snows of
Munich
Though the crash
didn’t end his life
It did bring his
footballing career
To an untimely end
GO NOW BILL
WILLIAM ANTHONY "BILL" FOULKES - (5 JANUARY 1932 – 25 NOVEMBER 2013)
Go now Bill
Lay down the captain’s
armband
You’ve earned your
rest
Our tower of strength
Straight backed
Rugged and dependable
Take your place
Among your equals
And be at peace
Your strong facade
Oft betrayed
By sadness in your
eyes
The sadness of
survival
So go now Bill
And join the babes
You’ve missed so much
And take your place
Among immortals
IN TRAGEDIES WAKE – MUNICH 1958
At Old Trafford
In tragedies wake
In the eerie quiet
The terraces echoed
The mournful silence
And even the empty
Seats shed tears
For The busby babes
A MARK OF RESPECT – ARE YOU LISTENING LEEDS UTD
In the aftermath of Munich
All of football felt
the loss
In an altogether more
Caring and respectful
time
When fans of all teams
Out of respect, wore
black
And stadia were universally quiet
CALLOUS UNITED - GREGG AND FOULKES
Manchester United’s
Callous attitude
So cold and harsh
Towards the survivors
Beggared belief
And was never more
Keenly felt than when,
Only days after
The Munich Disaster
Gregg and Foulkes,
Though traumatised
And grieving and
feeling
The guilt of the
survivor
Were forced to play
Afterwards Harry Gregg
And Bill Foulkes
Forced to play too
soon
With the guilt of the
survivor
Sat in the dressing
room
Staring with empty eyes
THE HERO OF MUNICH
In the wake of tragedy
Harry Gregg arose
And with no thought
Of himself
Pulled survivors
From the burning plane
Assisted latterly
By Bill Foulkes
Though he thought
His action
unremarkable
George Best, said of
him
“Bravery is one thing
But what Harry did
Was about more than
bravery.
It was about goodness”
THE BUSBY BABES - THE HOLLYWOOD OF BRITISH FOOTBALL
Bright lights
Shining like stars
In the twinkling
Football firmament
Sparkling lights
From gritty towns
In the shadow of the
Dark satanic mills
Shining out from
Industrial heartlands
Like beacons
Bright lights of youth
Illuminating the lives
Of the terraced fans
Young men from the
dark
Industrial landscapes
Youth’s bright flames
Snuffed out
In the snows of Munich
CALLOUS UNITED – BLANCHFLOWER AND BERRY
Manchester United’s
Callous attitude
So cold and harsh
Towards the survivors
Beggared belief
And was never more
Keenly felt than when,
They could no longer
play
Jackie Blanchflower
And fellow survivor Berry
Were forced to vacate
The homes they lived
in
A TALE OF HEROES
Young heroes returning
From a far off foreign
field
With hard fought
victory won
Where the valiant
refused to yield
Like heroes from
Homers Iliad
Exalted in the legends
But in the Germanic
snows
The heroes journey
ends
As the Gods of winter
struck
Fire and ice took its
toll
And the names were
duly writ
Upon an eternal honour
roll
Geoff Bent, Roger
Byrne (Capt)
Duncan Edwards, Billy
Whelan
David Pegg, Tommy
Taylor
Mark Jones and Eddie
Colman
QUIET PLEASE
If you are a City fan
Keep silent if you can
As you stand at Old
Trafford
As silence falls in
accord
Please don’t speak out
Please don’t scream or
shout
Acknowledge the
silence
For those who lived
once
Don’t think about the
“Babes”
Cold and dead in the
carnage
If hatred in your
heart and head
Stops you honouring
United’s dead
Give your silence as a
gift
In remembrance of
Frank Swift
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