Second World War Martin commenced his operational career with
No. 455 Squadron RAAF in October 1941, flying the
Handley Page Hampden. In February 1942, he captained the first all-Australian crewed bombing sortie against Germany. Martin soon acquired a reputation for low-level flying in order to avoid anti-aircraft fire and fighters. After 13 operations, he and his crew joined
No. 50 Squadron RAF. Flying Hampdens,
Avro Manchesters, and finally
Avro Lancasters, they completed their tour in October 1942, Martin being awarded the
Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC). Martin's penchant for low flying contributed to his selection in March 1943 for assignment to the newly formed
No. 617 Squadron under Wing Commander
Guy Gibson.
Post-war After the war, Martin attended a course at the RAF Staff College in
Haifa and in 1945 joined the headquarters staff of No. 100 Group. for which he won the
Oswald Watt Gold Medal and the
Britannia Trophy. In 1947 he flew the meteorological Mosquito for the first
transatlantic jet crossing in support of No. 54 Squadron's
de Havilland Vampires. He was initially chosen to head up the
Operation Ju-jitsu flights, which the RAF were performing on behalf of the US Government. The flights were top secret reconnaissance missions deep into the Soviet Union using American
B-45 Tornado bombers. Unfortunately Martin failed a pressurisation test and the entire project was handed over to Squadron Leader
John Crampton instead. Martin was appointed to a succession of staff jobs: Air Attache, Tel Aviv in 1952; Operation Plans Division in 1955; attached to NATO in Fontainebleau, France 1955-1958; and Group Captain — Electronic Warfare, HQ Signals Command in 1959, before becoming
Aide-de-camp to the Queen in 1964. He then served for three years from 1967 to 1970 as
Air Officer Commanding No. 38 Group. In 1970 he was appointed Commander-in-Chief
RAF Germany and finally, in 1973,
Air Member for Personnel. ==Later life==