After the war he studied German, Geology and Geography at Bristol University, and in 1950 joined the Education Department of the RAF.  His commission was initially for four years, but later became permanent. He received the MBE in 1972.

Part of Martyn's service was in London, and in 1962 he and Lily moved to Caversham in Reading with their three children Chris, Cheryl and Bob.  He also served in Singapore, Nigeria and France.  His final posting was near Düsseldorf, where he heard about the friendship with Reading through the celebrations of our 25th anniversary.  He made contact with the Reading Düsseldorf Association, and appears first in our records by sending apologies to a committee meeting on 26 April 1974.

Martyn retired from the RAF with the rank of Group Captain in 1975, and immediately became active in the Association and in other local organisations.  Until then the focus of the Association had been on organising the annual exchange of young people with Düsseldorf, which had started with Phoebe Cusden's invitation to six children from Düsseldorf to visit Reading in 1948.  Martyn recognised that these exchanges were beginning to face competition from school exchanges and cheaper foreign holidays, and he contacted many local groups and organisations to encourage them to build a relationship and exchange visits with similar bodies in Düsseldorf.  He led the celebrations of the 30th anniversary in 1977, in which year he also became Chairman. 

Martyn and Lily made frequent visits to Düsseldorf and had many friends there, particularly through the Anglo-German Club and the Reading Düsseldorf Churches Interchange.

For the 40th anniversary in 1987, the Association published a booklet which listed 24 organisations that had held exchanges with Düsseldorf in the previous ten years, showing the success of Martyn's initiative.

On 21 November 1991, Martyn was made an Honorary Freeman of the Borough of Reading. A few months later, he travelled to Soest in Germany to receive the Verdienstorden of the Land of North Rhine-Westphalia on 13 May 1992. The citation (translated from German) reads: 

"For especial merit in the development of German-British relations 

Mr Allies has decisively advanced the fruitful association between the towns of Reading and Düsseldorf. Thanks to his great personal dedication, numerous meetings and friendships between citizens, church congregations, choirs, sports clubs, teachers and school pupils have been made possible. Mr Allies has been a member of the Reading Düsseldorf Association since 1973, and has been its Chairman since 1977. Numerous fixtures in cultural, social and sporting areas derive from his activity. He has thus achieved an important contribution to understanding between peoples through the promotion of contacts which leap over boundaries." 

Once again in 1997 the Association celebrated its most important anniversary yet, its Golden Jubilee, and Martyn again planned the activities. He was determined that the link should achieve a total of fifty exchanges, and this was achieved. 

On 20 November 1998 Martyn stepped down as Chairman of the Reading Düsseldorf Association, but he remained a member of the Committee and contributed enormously to its work, particularly in the areas of publicity and the development of exchanges. He also helped to organise the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of 2007.

At its Annual General Meeting on 5 November 2009, the Reading Düsseldorf Association appointed Martyn its Honorary Vice-President.

So far this account has described his work with the Reading Düsseldorf Association, but he was equally committed to other activities at every level from his own neighbourhood to global concerns, many starting from his own initiative.  In October 1974 he founded the RAF Theatrical Association, and for some time he ran the Reading Arts Festival.  Locally, he was a faithful member of Caversham Heights Methodist Church, arranged a luncheon club and outings for elderly people, encouraged the Church to become an "eco-congregation", and took a leading part in ecumenical links with other churches. He started the Caversham Heights Society in 1977, remaining its Chairman until 2009.  He was an active member of the Liberal Democrat Party.  

He founded and ran the Plan International Berkshire Group, which fosters children in the third world, from 1987 to 2008.  In the 21st century Martyn continued his active commitment to international justice, peace and friendship, by working tirelessly for development in the Third World and against climate change. He campaigned at the Genoa summit of 2001, was a leading member of the Reading Jubilee Debt Campaign, co-ordinator for the Reading Fair Trade Town initiative and active in One World Week.

At Martyn's funeral on 12 February 2010 at Caversham Heights Methodist Church, the church was filled to overflowing.