Remembrance Day is a poignant occasion for veteran Robert Hammond, even if his recollections of service are far from pleasant to recall.

As a wireless operator aboard a Lancaster bomber from 1943 to 1944, Mr Hammond watched from the air as cities burnt, and saw planes being downed around him.

“It’s frightening — you know that after your first trip, how dangerous it is,” recalled Mr Hammond, the father of Bermudian Robin Stubbs — widow of the late MP John Stubbs.

“You can see them being shot down, the parachutes opening and all the rest of it.”

Now 93 years old, Mr Hammond is a regular visitor to Bermuda. Of the seven in his crew during the Second World War, only two now remain.

A native of Harrogate, Yorkshire, Mr Hammond is reluctant to see his experiences in Bomber Command in print, for fear of being seen as bragging about them.

“You’re just trying to preserve your neck,” he said of warfare. “I certainly don’t want to create the impression that I’m showing off.”

As the wireless operator, it was Mr Hammond’s job to decipher the messages in Morse code from the Pathfinder aircraft leading the attacks.

These might be changes of direction — or warnings of enemy aircraft.

Mr Hammond volunteered to join the Royal Air Force at the age of 18, knowing that he would be called up regardless and preferring the idea of air service over the navy.

He made it through 30 operations or “ops” from October 1943 to January 1944, bombing raids over Europe: “Mainly Germany,” he said, recalling raids on Stuttgart, Frankfurt, Cologne and Berlin. The losses were tremendous,” Mr Hammond said, and his aircraft often came under fire. Once struck by an enormous piece of flak from anti-aircraft fire, he said, “how we kept flying, you don’t know”.

After finishing a tour of 30 ops, Mr Hammond was able to move over to training. He did not remain in the air, preferring to return to work at his local newspaper, the Harrogate Advertiser.

Although he said he has “never been one for marching in parades”, Mr Hammond looks forward to taking part in tomorrow’s Remembrance Day ceremonies. His dark memories of the war are a testament to the sacrifices endured by the men and women who serve. As time goes by, their experiences become old history, Mrs Stubbs said, adding: “I have some connection, because of my father.

“As time goes on, for someone of my daughter’s age, there really is little connection.”