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Description
John Martin served in the Royal Air Force in World War 2. Aged 99yrs John was interviewed for the West Wales Veterans Archive in March 2021. Brought up in London, John witnessed the London Blitz at first hand. Becoming a Wireless Operator in the RAF John was shot down on his third raid over Berlin on 30th Jan 1944. Making a near miraculous escape from his Lancaster after it has been attacked by a German night fighter, John was taken prisoner by German searchlight battery personnel as soon as he landed on the ground. At one point suspected of being a spy, John feared being handed over to the Gestapo, but to his relief was incarcerated in Luftwaffe operated Stalag Luft PoW camps for the remainder of the War. John returned home to marry his WAAF Flight Mechanic girlfriend, Adelaide in 1945. Today John and Adelaide are still together, some 78 years after they first met by chance at a dance in 1943.
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