A Sailor's Prayer
Petty Officer Henry B. Shipstone, R.A.N.R.

Let me live, O Mighty Master
Through this war. Yet if I'm slain,
Tasting triumph and disaster,
Joy, and not too much pain,
Let me roam the raging waters
For a while to love and laugh, and when I'm beneath the ocean,
Let this be my epitaph-

"There sleeps one who took his chances
In that war-crazed, tragic hell.
Battled luck and circumstances,
Loved and laughed, but forgot and fell.

Victor, then he did no crowing,
Wounded, then he did not wail,
Cursed and swore, but kept on going,
Never let his courage fail.

He was fallible and human,
Therefore loved and understood,
By his fellow men and women,
Whether good, or not so good.

Kept his spirit undiminished,
Had a laugh for every friend,
Fought for Freedom till it finished,
Lived, loved, laughed, until the end."
Petty Officer Henry B. Shipstone, R.A.N.R.
(Late of HMAS Sydney)





Class Overview
Page published Sept. 26, 2010