FAMILY and friends gathered in Cardigan this week to celebrate the 97th birthday of a former WWII RAF gunner.

Flight Lieutenant John Armstrong, from Llechryd, will be a familiar face to many in the Tivyside area and people popped in to the Fisherman’s Rest, at Quay Street, to wish him many happy returns on Tuesday (July 18). His daughter Janet was also there, having travelled up from Cornwall.

John is a regular at the restaurant and owner Jane Roche laid on tea and cakes to mark the occasion.

“John is a tremendous character and comes in most days and we just wanted to do something for him,” said Jane.

Originally, from Cumberland, John enlisted in the RAF in 1938 and trained as a wireless electrical mechanic and then air gunner.

He began the war with No51 squadron based in Yorkshire, carrying out night operations over Germany and other parts of Europe in various marks of the Armstrong Whitworth Whitley, a twin-engined bomber with a crew of five.

Transferred to No35B squadron, he then flew in Handley Page Halifax bombers, a four-engined aircraft with a crew of seven.

He then switched to the Far East where he came up against the Japanese, flying in a Vultee Vengeance dive bomber.

“It had a crew of two, the pilot in the front and I was in the rear,” said John. “By then I was 24 and my usual pilot was 21 but had been flying since he was 18.

“After the war ended, there was a surplus of air crew and I ended up flying a ‘mahogany bomber’ – service slang for a desk!”

John worked at an RAF technical training school in Wiltshire until he had completed his 12 years’ service.

Then it was back to Cumberland and five years working for the Atomic Energy agency at Sellafield, which was then followed in 1955 by a move to the MOD establishment at Aberporth carrying out the flight testing on new aircraft, including Concorde.

He retired in 1977. He was married to wife Elsie for 65 years, who died six years ago.

John was responsible for starting from scratch, in 1961, a Squadron of the Air Training Corps in Cardigan.

“It was hard going but from a small nucleus of a dozen youngsters we gradually built up, after a few years reaching a peak of 56 cadets and five officers, among whom were a former pilot, a navigator, a flight engineer and an air gunner—all good backgrounds for the inspiration of young cadets,” said John.

“I commanded 1429 (Cardigan) Squadron from 1961 until 1973, and today, 56 years later, it is still going strong.

“Also, with a strong background in radio and electronics, I was also busy servicing faulty talking books for the blind for the county of Ceredigion. The machines consisted of a portable record player, which read a story to the blind person from an LP.

“The blind teacher for the county would leave the faulty players at my home, for repair and subsequent collection. What with those, and bales of cadet uniforms delivered, I wonder how my poor wife tolerated it all!

“As the news spread, I got calls for help from the blind in the neighbouring counties of Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire and began to provide a mobile service.

“I have long since given up such voluntary activities but look back with some satisfaction on a full and eventful life. I meet former cadets from time to time, now very mature—and approaching pension age!”