The Eternal Patrol

The U-boat left the mouth of the French harbour Under cover of darkness for these German Navy martyrs To the North Atlantic they went to sink Allied shipping their bent Their plan was to cut Britain's supply line of shipping without lament But just lately the tide had changed and others had not returned Posted on the notice boards their fate was on eternal patrol not yearned It took two days to sail to their patrol station in the shipping lanes From the United States to Britain in the life line for the British to sustain Them in their struggle against the Nazi aggressor in the Second World War battle On this day it was different when the Canadian Corvette chasing them in their mettle They dived down to escape the hunting as the depth charges exploded around Until one exploded near the hull of the submarine sending it to the bottom ground So the U-boat was lost with all of its hands who were in the crew And they had not been able to radio their base regarding their fate too The submarine was marked as now on eternal patrol in the North Atlantic With the families of the crew waiting for word of them made them frantic The captain was at the periscope still looking around for targets for them And the crew continued on with no thought of death or the cruise having an end. © Paul Warren Poetry