A HEROIC war veteran who served in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War has shared his story to commemorate Remembrance Day on November 11.

Albert Howard, 101, from Mayland, was a navigator with 47 Squadron and flew in Mosquitos and Beaufighters.

Born in 1922, Albert can remember the aftermath of the First World War.

His father had been injured and gassed during the conflict.

Those memories combined with the start of the Second World War when Albert was just 17 years old are something he will never forget.

Maldon and Burnham Standard: Remembering - Albert was born in 1922 and grew up hearing about his father being injured and gassed during the conflictRemembering - Albert was born in 1922 and grew up hearing about his father being injured and gassed during the conflict (Image: Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund)

He said: “You can always remember because there’s so many people that have been ruined - their whole family ruined.

“You can’t get over that sort of thing, you can’t talk your way through it. It’s difficult at that age.”

In 1943, Albert enlisted in the RAF and joined 47 Squadron where he flew missions across the eastern Mediterranean and other locations.

He was the navigator on specialist Beaufighter and Mosquito planes and would go on bomber and naval escort missions as well as torpedo attack raids.

Albert recalls returning from Canada to England.

He said: “The crew were trained separately, and we came back to England outside Blackpool, and you were teamed up with your pilot.

Maldon and Burnham Standard: Meet-up - Albert and the other last remaining World War Two RAF veterans at a previous event arranged by the RAF Benevolent FundMeet-up - Albert and the other last remaining World War Two RAF veterans at a previous event arranged by the RAF Benevolent Fund (Image: Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund)

“I was the navigator and I remember sitting in the Beaufighter, climbing in there with a strange pilot and not knowing whether he was going to kill us, or what.

“But he served me really well. He was a Canadian and he was a wonderful man.

“That moment of realisation for Leo, my pilot, was the thing that carried me through the war.

“If I said to him dive, he’d dive.

“The main thing being a navigator, was that your orders were carried out.

“If they wandered and you didn’t know about it, by the time you had to come home you didn’t know where you were.”

Albert was previously invited by the RAF Benevolent Fund to a gathering of the last remaining Second World War RAF veterans for an afternoon at Biggin Hill, where he shared his experiences.

The charity provides financial, emotional and practical assistance to serving and retired RAF personnel and their families.