After my last article on Jimmy Edwards, of Whacko fame, I was contacted by Alan Hartley, aged 87 from Coventry.

Alan was born in Barrow-in-Furnace, Cumberland (Cumbria).

And in June 1943 he reported to RAF Padgate Warrington, for basic training, drills, small arms training and route marches followed for the next few weeks.

From there he was sent to Thorney Island, on the south coast, painting Flying Fortress bombers.

In October 1943 he was successful in applying against very stiff competition for a flight mechanics’ course at RAF Locking, in Weston-super-Mare.

Alan trained on the power plant of the latest war machine to scream from the skies and shoot up fleeing Nazi tanks – the Hawker Typhoon, known as the “Tiffy” powered by the powerful 24-cylinder Napier Sabre engine.

It was a high-performance engine and required highly trained mechanics to keep it at tip top performance.

After completing this highly skilled training on liquid cooled high-performance engines, Alan found himself at RAF Doncaster with Dakota DC3 aircraft and air- cooled radial engines.

Alan and the Dakotas soon found themselves being transferred to RAF Down Ampney in February 1944.

Alan was now a member of 46 Group RAF Transport Command. He was now in 271 Squadron and when they arrived at Down Ampney, they soon found the village had no pub, one phone box and a bakery and its 285 villagers were easily swamped by the 3,500 personnel at the RAF camp.

Alan said every morning as soon as the bakery opened to RAF personnel (locals had first call) it sold out within minutes.

From February the squadron was training, flying circuits between local air bases towing Horsa gliders, dropping supplies and dropping paratroopers.

Alan speaks emotionally of the “Flying Nightingales”

“These were young women recruited from the Women’s Auxiliary Air Forces (WAAFs) to look after the wounded soldiers being brought back from France.

“They were aged 18-19 and were give four pence a day extra flying pay and a bag of boiled sweets once a month, and a parachute, and were the only RAF personnel ordered not to use it!

“If they were transporting casualties then they had to stay on board the plane with the wounded men in case they were needed on the ground to render medical assistants. “More than 100,000 casualties were brought back from the war zone this way and at Down Ampney we used to meet the wounded, give them a shave freshen them up with tea and cigarettes.

“We then transferred them to ambulances lining the road at Down Ampney, which we called Hospital Road.

“The casualties were taken to the hospital at Wroughton and from there they were sent out by rail to other hospitals.

“Sadly, two flying Florence Nightingales were killed during this operation and none of them received any recognition for their incredible feat.

“I managed to get them to meet the Queen and in 2008 I was able to arrange some recognition for them with a presentation at the Royal Hospital Chelsea, where the Chelsea Pensioners live.”