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I volunteered late in 1939, aged 23. I had been in the Training Corps at school and passed some tests. I volunteered for the RAF but didn’t tell mum and dad — and the RAF didn’t want me at this stage, for some reason. Prior to then I had been working for Road Transport and General Insurance in Oxford, I started as a clerk and became a junior inspector in 1935. I was called up in 1940 and went to Uxbridge, where I had a physical checkover and various tests to make sure I was fit, then went before a board made up of a Group Captain, a couple of Squadron Leaders etc.. On entering the room Group Captain Sugden said ‘Hello Cotton, scored any 100s lately?’ and I realised I had played cricket against his team (Holton) in the last summer. He asked me a couple of questions, including one about calculus, and at the end said ‘We can make you an observer’ but I said ‘No, I want to be trained as a pilot’. He said ‘Oh, very well’. I was the only one out of the group of 32 that were sent to be trained and I reckon it was because of that cricket match.

My RAF training started at Babbacombe (a fortnight) followed by square bashing at Torquay for 8 — 10 weeks, to get us really fit. This was followed by Elementary Flying Training School (EFTS) at Desford, Leicestershire learning to fly Tiger Moths, but because I was above average as a flyer I skipped the next stage of training and moved on to the Operational Training Unit at Abingdon, Oxfordshire, the big training centre for bomber command. Then I joined 102 Squadron at Topcliffe near Thirsk, Yorkshire, famous for Group Captain Leonard Cheshire. I went on a couple of raids, followed by a ten-day blind flying course — the Lorenz Beam Course back at Abingdon.

The RAF hierarchy consisted of group captain, squadron leaders then sergeants. I was a sergeant pilot; my gunner was a flight lieutenant. My pal Bird in 102 Squadron had a second pilot who was a squadron leader — rank wasn’t so important as what you actually did.

During training I flew Tiger Moths, Ansons, Armstrong Whitworth Whitley and Whitley Vs.

They tried to pick flying crews based on experience, but it was difficult. One night’s raids saw 9 craft leave and only two return — a loss of 35 — 40 men, so they were bound to be replaced by inexperienced men.

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