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For "Stan" McCabe of Northland, war service took the form of training in New Zealand and England, preparatory to a posting to 488 New Zealand Squadron, flying night-fighters.
Hazardous enough work, but it was a much more routine flight in a Mosquito that led to the crash-landing and a period in the Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead. There he was under the care of the noted New Zealand plastic surgeon, Archie McIndoe. Stan McCabe narrates his wartime experiences to Alwyn Owen. [Description from The New Zealand Listener.]
He explains how at the age of 18 he saw Charles Kingsford-Smith land at Whangarei in the "Southern Cross" which inspired his interest in aviation.
In January 1942 he reported to Levin for pilot training. He then moved to Rotorua and talks about the superior belief the pilots were told to have in themselves, and the rivalry between them and the other services. He refers to a speech by the Governor-General Sir Cyril Newell referring to the "gentlemen of the Air Force" and the "men of the Army and Navy" which caused a great furore.
They next moved to Harewood and training on Tiger Moths and then at Wigram on Airspeed Oxfords. He explains how trainee pilots had to sign a death certificate before they went on their first solo flight, absolving the Air Force of any liability. He describes getting his 'wings' and left for England for training in Bournemouth, where he applied to be a nightfighter.
In Edinburgh he joined 488 Squadron, patrolling the North Sea and English Channel. He was on duty on the night of D-Day, flying up and down the beaches, but there were only two German aircraft seen that day.
He recounts the story of how he crash landed his Mosquito after an encounter with a Junkers 88 and his feelings on shooting at the enemy and how impersonal war becomes when highly-powered weapons are involved.
He explains how he was re-locating a disused Mosquito which he had to crash-land in vegetable gardens behind some council flats. The plane caught fire and he describes how he escaped but with burns to his hands and face.
At East Grinstead Hospital he was treated by pioneering plastic surgeon Archibald McIndoe. He talks about McIndoe's background and his treatment, replacing an eyelid and the back of one hand. He says the girls from The Windmill Theatre in London would come down to cheer up any patients who were getting depressed, and take them out to the theatre.
He went to a reunion in 1985 of "The Guinea Pig Club" of former East Grinstead patients, who had been patched up by Archie McIndoe.