Alfie Martin DFC, RAF, Halifax bomb aimer, account of being shot down & evasion

BBC News - Amazing war story of modest hero Alfie



I heard whizz-whizz-whizz... the sounds of bullets hitting the fuselage.
"A few minutes later the pilot came on: 'Bail out, Bail out'."

The memories of 90-year-old Alfie Martin were so vivid that I saw the wartime scenes playing out in my mind's eye.

He lived in extraordinary times - but his story is particularly remarkable. After parachuting out of a burning plane, the RAF airman was spirited out of Nazi-occupied France by the French Resistance.

He was keen to stress to me, though, that he wasn't telling the tale to boast.
Rather, he wanted to speak about his experiences to pay tribute to the members of the Resistance who saved his life, and to support veterans' charities.

Emotional
After landing near the French-Belgian border, he wandered between fields for a few days.

Then, a boy minding a cow came across him.

"Wonder of wonders," Alfie recounted, "he saluted."
He still found it emotional, 67 years on.

"It did a great deal for my morale," he explained, "because I was feeling pretty miserable."

He still receives Christmas cards from the boy who found him.

The boy's family pointed him in the right direction.

Alfie was put up in a farmhouse for six weeks while the Resistance made plans for his escape.

Members of the underground movement transported him by train through Paris to the Pyrenees.

Then, guided by a Basque people-smuggler, he and other Allied escapees hiked over the mountains and waded across a river to San Sebastian in Spain.

There, he wasn't allowed out of the safe house because he was having problems with his disguise.

He had to dye his hair from red to black and the dye was running out.

"I wasn't a very attractive Spaniard," he joked.

But the last leg of the escape was about to begin.

In San Sebastian, he was picked up by the British Consul and flown home from Gibraltar.

Sadly, at least three of the Resistance members who helped him to safety did not survive the war.

"Anyone who helped you was subject to death. And there were notices to that effect," he reminded me sombrely.

"I hope my memories give people some idea of what life was like for us - the great hardships, but also the great joys we had together and the great pride we take in it all."

 

A video link for an interview with Mr Martin, and below a transcription for those who are unable to access BBC clips.

BBC - BBC One Programmes - BBC Newsline, 10/11/2010, RAF veteran speaks about WWII (Part 1)
RAF veteran speaks about WWII (Part 1)
Alfie Martin is a ninety-year-old RAF veteran from Finaghy in Belfast. During World War Two, he bailed out of a burning plane and landed in Nazi-occupied France.

For the most part I was flying - whilst I was an observer and navigation trained and so forth - for the most part I flew as bomb aimer, and we were flying in Halifax aircraft.

All went well until the 12th operation which was to Pilzen in Czechoslovakia. Coming back from that, having been flying for about 10 1/2 hours, at 4 o'clock in the morning, we saw fighters around. The pilot did quite a lot of weaving and so forth, but eh, a few minutes later there was the sound of 'whizz, whizz, whizz' - an aircraft was going, flying past, and the sound of bullets hitting the fuselage.

And the pilot came on "All OK? All OK?" and I replied, "Yes." As far as I know every member replied "Yes" - of the crew.

But a few minutes after that the pilot said, "Bail out! Bail out! The engine's on fire. We're in real trouble."

So, I put on my parachute and eh, the navigator - he took his seat away - he sat over the escape hatch. I lifted up the escape hatch which when it came to the vertical was supposed to come off the hinges and you pushed it down through - jettisoned it out through the hole. I did that but the air screw jammed it in - sort of the air coming in kept it tight against - and I couldn't get the - I couldn't reach across with enough strength to clear it, and I couldn't get the navigator who was in the far side of it to give it a kick.

Then the pilot came on pleading, "Please get out!" and so forth.

We went down to about 7,000 feet I think at that time. And so I quickly unbuttoned my intercom and my helmet and I just stood up and I jumped on the edge of the door and out it went and I went out too.

And my first impression was just the black tail of the aircraft going over the top of my head. Anyway I got down safely, without any problem, eh, I tried to see if some of the others were getting out, but I couldn't get my chute turned. You come down very slowly and very quietly and it's amazing just how much of a difference there is from having had an engine in your ears for 10 hours - absolute silence - and you come down, drift down very slowly and suddenly then the ground rushes up and hits you. I just rolled on to my back and I was fine.

I then began to think of what we - what did they tell us when we were training and the things - we did have people who had escaped and evaded capture and so forth, speak to us on the squadron.

The thing was, first of all there was help to be obtained but you had go and find it.

You had to remember that those people were subject to death if they helped up, so you should not take notes about who they are and so forth.

We were also told the best time to escape is immediately you land in territory, and also that you should hide your parachute and get as far away from the aircraft as possible.

I did that, and, I am going to say now, I am going to kind of shorten it up but … I walked and wandered through fields at night for a couple of nights, getting more and more miserable to tell you the truth, and not being able to sleep very well and did try to talk to several people, but they were either afraid or they couldn't help.

On the Sunday morning - it was Friday night we were shot down - on Sunday morning I eh, sort of hid up in a gate - in a hedgeway - and sort of dozed off because I was determined to only walk at nights and off the roads and so forth, and I, I was as I say I dozed and I was sitting on my cap - or my flying boots - and I dozed off and suddenly there was an awful crashing and a noise and eh, a cow came down upon me, followed by a little boy.

And he stopped, and he looked at me, and I think I got up and we both looked at each other and then - wonder of wonders - he saluted. [voice breaking] I still feel emotional that did a great deal for my morale because I had been feeling kind of miserable and that wee fella [name André L? ] - I still have Christmas cards from him. He and his family helped me as much as they could, gave me an idea where to go and so forth.

I'm going to say later that evening I wandered on and eh, thought about going to - taking the train, but was too scared to do so. And eh, so I wandered over a hill there was - just to keep away from the traffic - and suddenly ahead of me were 2 Gendarmes talking to a lady and - they had been looking in my direction so there was no point in trying to run off the other way. I went down and tried to brazen it out.

I got level with them and eh, one of them said, "Carte d'identité Monsieur?"

I stopped and started running through my pockets as if I were searching for something and acting dumb, I didn't speak. Anyway, after a minute or two they kind of talked a wee bit to the other, and the lady she had kind of drifted into the background a little, and they sort of indicated for me to go with them, so we started walking back up the hill. I had just about made up my mind that I was going to make a run for it, when the two of the stopped and talked a wee bit, one to another, and eh, then the one I talked to I took to be the senior of the two and he said, "Anglais?"

I said "Oui."

And he said, "Allez vite!"

I 'allez-ed vite' very 'vite-ly' indeed.

Anyway, I followed on - I followed the railway track to some extent further down, by keeping off the road. About 8 o'clock that evening I came to a little crossing. I went out onto the road to walk across. Just after I'd cut across I saw there was a lady in eh, in the Crossing Keeper's house and I went back and asked her, and told her who I was and could she help and so forth. And she was very frightened and so forth, but I persisted and eventually she took me in and gave me a glass of wine and a biscuit or something. And she then said I'll take you somewhere you can spend the night. She had wanted to know where I was going to spend the night, I had thought I'd just spend it in the fields or …

Anyway eh, she … we walked up about half a mile, went up to a farmhouse, knocked the door and we were taken in and eh, I was told that they were friendly. They asked me various questions and so forth, they said we'll - you can stay the night but we'll have to see what we can do for you in the morning.

The result was I stayed there 6 weeks, during which time I heard a programme on the world radio - news from Newforge.

And strangely enough I've come across a lady here who was in the particular concert they were playing there. That and also the Dambusters raid was on too. I heard it on the World Service.

 

Thank you Peter for the additional information on the operation and on his return home. Was hoping you could add something.
Do you know who the crewman was who was killed?

 

Brilliant thanks very much; changed the title to include his DFC.

 

Thank you Clive, that's a great bonus!

 

Just wish there was a way of viewing part two of this...

Here you go
BBC - BBC One Programmes - BBC Newsline, 11/11/2010, RAF veteran speaks about WWII (Part 2)

He mentions meeting up with his pilot.