LOOKING Back reader Dennis Lewton lent us this poignant memorial to his father Mac, a former airman, now in his 90s and living in Weymouth.

The article looks at the desperate night in January 1943 when Mac nearly lost his life – but his family was informed that he was actually dead.

At the time, the teenage Mac was stationed with the RAF at Long Kesh in Northern Ireland as an instructor with 42nd Squadron, flying Beaufort Torpedo Bombers. He had already survived four crashes.

On the night of January 20, he and his fellow airmen took off but soon flew into thick fog near Belfast. They decided to return to base but suddenly there was ‘the screaming of metal, a jumble of lights and the feeling of being thrown through the air’.

Mac, who was badly injured, was the only crew member in the plane to survive and despite his injuries, had to clamber down the mountain where his flight had crashed and seek assistance at a nearby house – much to the alarm of the elderly woman who lived there.

After a spell in hospital he returned to the skies – and it was in Ireland that he met and married the love of his life, Ethel, who died some years ago.

The daring exploits of Mac and his squadron have been commemorated in a stained glass window in All Saints’ parish church in Lisburn. His comrades who lost their lives have been laid to rest with their Commonwealth Air Force colleagues who also died in the war.

Mac’s son Dennis, who also lives in Weymouth, said: “I am so proud of my dad and this is a wonderful celebration of his life.”