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This story was submitted to the People’s War site by a volunteer on behalf of Pilot Officer John A. Martin DFC (retired) Larne, N.Ireland and been added to the site with his permission. Mr Martin understands the site’s terms and conditions.

Before I joined the Royal Air Force I worked for Shell at Larne, N.Ireland and joined the RAF as a Flight Mechanic in 1940 at 18 years of age.
My early recollections are when I was stationed at RAF Waterbeach in 1942 and working as a flight mechanic. My mate and I were out waiting for an instructor pilot to come out to taxi and turn the aircraft we were working on around. The authorities wouldn’t let a pupil do it, it had to be an instructor. My mate and I were wanting to get out and go to Cambridge and we said, “Surely we could do that.” We started the aircraft and taxied it into a Tannoy post. The wheels had swivelled, instead of going where we wanted, the wheels had turned, and the aircraft went into a Tannoy post. My mate and I were put on “Jinkers”, and brought in front of the Wing Commander. The Wing Commander said, “What is your problem.” I replied, “I want to go aircrew.” The Wing Commander said he would see to that. My mate also said the same reply to the Wing Commander. It was Wing Commander Menhol, he was an Irishman, and he said to me, “Although you and I both have the same accents, we cannot let that beat the war effort.” Fourteen days was what he gave me in the guard house, and as soon as the fourteen days were over I was off to go to aircrew training. My feet never touched the ground until I was off to aircrew. I had to go to Oxford to pass out after aircrew admission. I went as Flight Engineer to St. Athans which is near Cardiff. The training lasted six weeks. I had to do a fitters course at Inswoth Lane near Gloscester and when the fitters course was finished I went on an Air Gunners Course, and I was an Air Gunner as well. Then I went to St Athans. After I attained my position as Flight Engineer I picked up my crew at Stradishall near Haverhill . I hadn’t even flown before working as a Flight Engineer. And because Foster, my mate and I were top of the class, we were allocated to the two officers. I got an officer as a pilot as did Foster, the rest of our class were getting Flight Sergeants and Sergeants. The officer to whom I was allocated was Pilot Officer McDonald. I looked at him and thought, ‘Oh dear, what have I got myself in for here.’ He was 38 years old, I was 20 years of age. He was a wizened sort of a bloke. We got on the crew and went off for our ‘circuits and bumps’ and then went solo. During our solo flight the port outer engine went on fire, and we feathered it and landed the aeroplane. The instructor said to the pilot, “I can’t tell you anything more.” He was such a good pilot. We then went to Chedburgh to 620 Squadron. Later on in his flying career he was known to have flown on 3 engines for 4 hours, having ‘lost’ an engine, and then his landing was as smooth as could be, you wouldn’t feel a bump.

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