101-year-old from Dunstable 'honoured' to be in London's Remembrance Sunday march with blind veterans’ charity

Michael Woods marched past The Cenotaph alongside 40 other blind veterans as part of the national remembrance commemorations.

For a second time, he joined servicemen and women in the service, after first joining the parade in 2024.

Michael said: “It was great. Such a marvellous experience. I’m honoured to have taken part with Blind Veterans UK and I’m very proud that I was one of the few Second World War veterans, there aren’t a lot of us left.”

He joined the RAF at the age of 18 in 1943, and was the only Second World War veteran marching with the group.

As a teenager, he went at RAF Cardington, then undergoing training at Skegness, before he was selected for training as an aircraft mechanic.

He served at both RAF Coningsby and RAF Skellingthorpe, working with 61 Squadron on its Lancaster Bombers.

Looking back on his time in the air force, Michael said: “I used to service all the engines and run the Lancaster out.

“I remember one night we were all ready to go and then after one of the Lancasters had taken off he fired a red ferry light which is the sign of danger. He landed straight away but as soon as he did it blew up with about 10 tonnes of bombs on it.

“There was a great crater but the miracle of it was that the rear gunner survived.

“As a mechanic I wasn’t meant to be in the planes flying but used to do so quite often. It was illegal of course but I remember that the crew would always say that if the mechanic is happy to fly with us then he must be pretty confident in the plane!”

After the war, he was sent to Palestine, where he saw out his service, and was discharged in 1947 with the rank of leading aircraftman.

Michael lost his sight later in life due to age-related macular degeneration and glaucoma. He explained: “My sight started to go gradually because of the glaucoma at first, but I remember having just driven back from the West Country, I got pneumonia and had to go to hospital and after that my vision had got a lot worse.”

In 2020, Blind Veterans UK started supporting him as his sight deteriorated. Michael said: “Every month or so we meet up as a group in the local area and all the staff are so helpful and kind. They really are amazing and can’t do enough for you.”