A Unique Career in the RAF
Martin Smith
Martin Smith captivated Carnforth Rotarians yesterday evening with a fascinating account of his RAF career, sharing stories from a unique path that began when he joined as a mechanical engineer.
Once he had passed his driving test, he was moved onto a wide range of driving jobs and promoted to Corporal.
As a driver, he was posted to Germany, the journey took three days by trains, boat and more trains.
In 1964, he was promoted to Sergeant and was to go to the Pacific where a certain bomb was to be tested. However, before he got there, he was diverted to Cypress to take over transport duties as the Turks and Cypriots were in disagreement and nothing was being transported.
One job was to transport a piece of Radar equipment from the docks to the top of a mountain. The road was steep with 15 turns, all of which had to be carefully negotiated by a long trailer. It took 3 days to reach the top and once there, they abandoned the trailer.
Other driving jobs included escorting Princess Margaret and the Queen on different occasions to individual events.
Martin was promoted to Flight Sergeant and at the age of 35 became Warrant Officer.
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