Pilot-Officer George Martin, DFC:
RAF pilot & former Pambula (NSW) resident spent two-&-a-half months living amongst German soldiers posing as a deaf-mute refugee after he was shot down over enemy occupied France on D-Day.
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A 23 year old pilot in the famous rocket firing Typhoon Squadron, Pilot-Officer Martin was on a mission over Normandy in D-Day, searching for enemy transport. Suddenly, his aircraft was hit by flak near Lisieux, causing an explosion in the wings. Bailing out of the burning plane over enemy occupied France, he became a floating target for enemy canons and machine guns once he pulled the rip cord on his parachute.
With tracer bullets flying dangerously close, he was fortunate enough to an assisting wind blow him from away from the gun positions and a large tree broke his fall.
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Suffering from a broken leg, Martin had only been down for about ten minutes when he heard German voices approaching. Forced to crawl on his back into a hedge some fifty yards away, he remained hidden until the next day. However, when German troops returned to the spot the next day, he dropped into a canal, swimming and floating 600 yards downstream until the banks were low enough to struggle out
RAF pilot-officer George Martin, DFC.
Image courtesy of a private collection. All rights reserved.
Pilot-Officer George Martin was flying a Hawker Typhoon over occupied France on D-Day when his plane was hit by flak.
Image courtesy of the Australian War Memorial.
Eventually taken in by a farmer, Mr. Lepetouka, & his family near Caen, Pilot-Officer Martin hid in their attic for three weeks until his hosts managed to secure forged identity papers through the French underground. Nonetheless, unable to speak either French or German and with Gestapo & SS officers visiting the same house almost daily for food and other supplies, a cover story was concocted that he had been bombed in a house in Lisieux, breaking his leg & suffering burns in the fire, the shock rendering unable to either hear nor speak. On one occasion, whole seated across a table from three Gestapo officers, one of them got up, walked behind him and discharged a revolver in an attempt to scare him into giving himself away.
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Finally, after about two-&-a-half months, British and Canadian troops liberated the village on 22 August. Pilot-Officer Martin was then taken to a clearing station near Caen and after surgery on his broken leg, he was flown back to England for admission to hospital.
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Having destroyed a tank & transport near Lisieux before he was forced to parachute from his plane, Pilot-Officer Martin was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for displaying "skill & courage, & fortitude of the highest order." However he never flew operationally again during the war.
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of the water. There, he was again forced to hide in another hedge to avoid German troops on the opposite bank.
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Again remaining secreted overnight in pouring rain, he spotted a couple of young French boys around midday the following day. Hailing them for assistance, they returned with a French priest, who provided him with civilian clothes and bandages before hiding him in a barn. Although the priest had given him some bread and milk, the increasing number of Germans in the area meant that it was five days before it was safe enough for anyone to return for him.
Pilot-Officer Martin was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions over Normandy
on D-Day.
Image courtesy of the Australian War Memorial.
Second World War RAF pilot
George Martin.
Courtesy of the family of P/O Martin.
The false identity papers organised by the French Resistance for Pilot-Officer Martin are now part of the Australian War Memorial's collections.
After the end of hostilities, he married English girl Phyllis Goble who he had met at a New Years' Eve Party in December 1943. The couple had three daughters before moving to Australia in 1952. He returned to flying, working as a freelance freight pilot and also served as race car driver Sir Jack Brabham's personal pilot. He passed away on 6 June 1996 at the age of 75 years.
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For the rest of his days after the war, George Martin remained in contact with the Lepetouka family in France. In 2019, his relatives made an emotional visit to the French village where he hidden all those years before. While there, they attended a ceremony to unveil a plaque in his memory, a service organised by Marie Antionette Lepetouka, whose parents had cared for him, and Michel Picquot who, as a nine year old, had witnessed his plane crash.
© Angela George. All rights reserved.
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References and bibliography:
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Argus
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Burnie Advocate
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Bournemouth News (UK)
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Cairns Post
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Canberra Times
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Courier Mail
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Daily Mail (UK)
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London Gazette
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RAAF Casualty Repatriation records, NAA
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RAAF Personnel Records, NAA
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The Sun (UK)
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West Australian
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George Martin, seated second from left, with the rest of his 609 squadron.
Image courtesy of the Bournemouth News, UK.
