Richard Frewen Martin

Richard Frewen Martin (born July 26, 1918 - September 1, 2006 ), called Dickie Martin , was a British test pilot.

Life

Dickie Martin served as an officer in the Royal Air Force (RAF) during World War II and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross . After the war, he tested early prototypes of jet aircraft and was involved in the development of the Hawker Hunter , Supermarine Swift and the De Havilland DH.110 Sea Vixen .

After he left the RAF in 1953, he worked for Gloster Aircraft Company, where he led the development of the Gloster Javelin as chief test pilot in the following years . In his career, Martin completed a total of 19,000 flight hours in 240 different types of aircraft. In 1967 Martin, who was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel ( Wing Commander ) in the Air Force , was awarded the Officer's Cross of the Order of the British Empire .

In 2003 he was made an honorary member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots . Richard Martin died on September 1, 2006.

Captivity in Luxembourg

At the beginning of World War II, at the time of seat war , Martin was in a unit in support of French forces on the Etain Air Base near the city of Étain was stationed. From there he participated on November 8, 1939 in an operation against a long-range reconnaissance aircraft of the German Air Force. However, he was forced to give up the pursuit due to problems with the oxygen system. As he was dizzy because of the lack of oxygen, he flew around for a short time without orientation and over the south of the then still free and neutral Luxembourg . He discovered the airfield in the city of Esch-sur-Alzette and started landing because his fuel ran out and he thought he was in France with the French lettering “Aérodrome d'Esch” .

In order not to provide Germany with an excuse to invade, by breaking its neutrality, the authorities had no choice but to arrest Martin and confiscate his machine. Richard Martin became Luxembourg's first and only prisoner of war during the entire war.

Martin was imprisoned in Luxembourg City and, to avoid diplomatic problems, he was not to leave Luxembourg during the entire war. He gave his word of honor, but took it back a short time later on the grounds that “My King needs me!” (My King needs me!). On December 26, 1939, he finally managed to escape back to France.

swell

1. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 44210, HMSO, London, December 30, 1966, p. 13 ( PDF , accessed August 25, 2020, English).
2. ↑ Tageblatt No. 293 (December 18, 2006), page 24: “Onsen Englänner” died at the age of 88

Web links

• Article on Martin's death