6 Peter Charles Tustin Armytage AM (1923–2010), Victoria Racing Club Chairman from 1986 to 1991, is by any measure a VRC hero, though he rarely spoke of his wartime exploits, writing a privately circulated memoir only late in his life. Born in Victoria’s Western District where his father Charles was Chairman of Hamilton Racing Club for 25 years, Peter Armytage joined the RAAF shortly before his 19th birthday. A year later he had embarked from Melbourne to serve with the RAF in Britain, with the commissioned rank of Flying Officer. As a wireless operator he flew on four bombing missions to Germany in early 1944. On the night of 24 March 1944 on a mission to Berlin his Lancaster aircraft with a crew of seven was hit by flak and set on fire over Germany near the Dutch border. At 10,000 feet altitude, all crew evacuated the stricken aircraft and parachuted to safety. Peter Armytage evaded capture by running eighteen miles and swimming an icy river into Holland, then under German occupation. For the next six weeks, with the aid of the Dutch underground and sympathetic families, he remained free. His story has been well told on the No. 1 Wireless Air Gunners School Ballarat website, some excerpts following; FLIGHT LIEUTENANT PETER ARMYTAGE AM (1923-2010) Victoria Racing Club (VRC) Chairman (1986-1991) VRC Committee (1978-93) (Gary Chownetz/VRC Collection) BY ANDREW LEMON
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