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On Laughter Silvered Wings

John Magee Jr. was born in Shanghai, China in 1922.  His parents, Reverend and Mrs. John Magee Sr. were Episcopal missionaries there.  The couple had four sons, the eldest of whom was John Jr.

Young John was born into a family that was expected to serve, lead, to be above average in intelligence, and to go on to do great things.

He did not let them down.

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John went to school first at the American School in Nanking.  He then went to England with his mother and studied for four years at St. Clare, a preparatory school for boys.  His next stop was at the interestingly named Rugby School.  There he developed a love of poetry and decided he wanted to become a poet.

He was good enough at his favorite pastime that he was able to win the school’s poetry prize.

While he studied at Rugby School, his mother and brothers were living in the United States, his father’s home country, while John Sr. continued his missionary work.  John Jr. visited his mother and siblings at their home in Martha’s Vineyard and was unable to return to England for his final year of school due to the outbreak of World War II.  Instead, he attended Avon Old Farms School in Avon, Connecticut.

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Although originally somewhat of a pacifist, John eventually decided he wanted to protect his friends back in Britain.  John had multiple discussions with his parents about the war and the state of the world, then came to a conclusion.

At the same time, despite his seizing life by the throat and sometimes partying a bit too much while at school, Magee was told that he had earned a scholarship to Yale.  John politely turned down the scholarship and headed to Canada, which had already entered the war.  There he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), hoping to learn to fly and perhaps be sent to the United Kingdom.

At No. 9 Elementary Flying Training School and No. 2 Service Flying Training school in Ontario he proved himself quite adept at his chosen task.  He flew solo after only six hours dual instruction when the average pilot did the same in 10 or 11 hours.  He earned his wings in June 1941.  He was promoted to the rank of pilot officer and was indeed sent to the UK, where he was posted to No. 53 Operational Training Unit near London. 

On August 7 he flew a Spitfire for the first time.  On August 18 he took one of those planes to 33,000 feet, his highest flight to date.

Thus far, although I think my prose has been informative, I admit it has been mostly dry facts.  My words in no way show how amazed and enthralled John was to be piloting such a powerful machine in the “clear blue yonder.”  After his high altitude flight on August 18 he returned to his quarters and sat down to write a poem. He wanted to share his love of flight with his parents.  He rewrote it and tweaked it a bit before hand-writing it on a sheet of blue stationery and mailing it to his parents on September 3.

John Sr. was by then curate of Saint John’s Episcopal Church in Washington, DC.  He reprinted his son’s poem in church publications.  It began to draw attention.

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On November 8, John Jr. took part in a sortie to Occupied France.  After refueling they headed out over the English Channel, crossing it east of Dunkirk, where they encountered flak, then were attacked by Luftwaffe fighters.  The attackers included Joachim Müncheberg, Germany’s leading ace at the time.  Of Magee’s four-plane section, he was the only one to survive, a tribute to his flying skill.

In late November and early December John took part in three more convoy patrols.

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On December 11, just four days after the United States declared war on Japan, John took off in late morning with other members of No. 412 Squadron to practice air-fighting tactics.  The cloud cover was dense and, when his training group tried to descend through one of the few gaps in the cover, Magee’s plane collided with another plane that was with another group and flying below the clouds.

The other pilot was probably killed instantly.  Magee was not as lucky.

A farmer who witnessed the accident later testified that he saw John struggling to open the canopy of his plane as it plummeted toward the earth.  He finally managed to push back his Spitfire’s canopy and bail out, but it was too late.  Too close to the ground for his parachute to open, Magee slammed into the earth…killed instantly.

He was 19 years old.

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After his death, Magee’s parents donated the poem he had sent them to the American Library of Congress, where it was included it in an exhibition of poems called ‘Faith and Freedom’ in February 1942. 

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I first read John Gillespie Magee Jr’s poem in high school English class and was immediately struck by the excitement, amazement, and enthusiasm evident in the words of the young author. 

I share it with you here.

High Flight

John Gillespie Magee Jr

“Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of – wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,
I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air….

Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace.
Where never lark, or even eagle flew —
And, while with silent, lifting mind I’ve trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
– Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.”

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As I said, I first read this back in the days when studying poetry was mandatory in school.  If it is not now, it should be.

Just saying.

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