Gather his things, don't mention his name I'm afraid he's gone for a burton Someone saw him go down in flames He's not coming back that's for certain
There is no time for grieving now We'll shut him out of our minds Keep him in our memory though In the hope of better times
Tomorrow a lad will take his place Newly trained, freshly faced
We'll tell him everything's fine
In the desperate days of the Battle of Britain the RAF was fighting to maintain air superiority over the Luftwaffe. The comrades of missing airmen borrowed the phrase "gone for a burton", which was the slogan to an advert for Burton's beer which featured a picture of an empty chair. The phrase entered the language, and it was relatively recently that I discovered its derivation. Sadly it now seems to be slipping out of use.