Ten German Bombers

"Ten German Bombers" is a children's song, originally sung by British schoolchildren during World War II, and also the British Military. It has been adopted as a football chant by English football fans at matches against Germany. The song has recently been criticised as discriminatory by both the UEFA and the FA with fans chanting it facing bans from competitions. "Ten German Bombers" makes reference to German bombers and defensive action by the RAF during World War II. It is sung to tune of "She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain". It is a simple repetitive song and the verse pattern follows a cumulative song format, similar to "Ten Green Bottles": There were ten German bombers in the air. There were ten German bombers in the air. There were ten German bombers, ten German bombers, ten German bombers in the air. And the RAF from England shot one down. And the RAF from England shot one down. And the RAF from England, RAF from England, RAF from England shot one down. These verses are then repeated with one more bomber being shot down each time. The 10th verse becomes "There was one" and "shot it down". The last verse becomes "There were no German bombers in the air" and "’Cause the RAF from England shot them down". Since the beginning of the 1990s, the song has been sung by English football fans at some matches against the Germany national football team. It is typically accompanied by horizontally outstretched arms and a gentle swaying motion, as if to mimic an aircraft in flight, and on some occasions, the word "air" has been replaced with "war". Such vocal behaviour was eventually deemed to be racially offensive by The Football Association. In December 2005, Sven-Göran Eriksson, the then manager, asked fans to refrain from it at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, a plea echoed by Greater Manchester Police and other authorities. Television commercials starring David Beckham, Michael Owen, and Wayne Rooney requesting the same were also planned. Similar issues attended the football song "Two World Wars and One World Cup".