Flying Officer Johnston

The crew on the flight, some of whom survived

Occasionally the NEWMP team is given the opportunity to scrutinise documents relating to war time casualties who are remembered on War Memorials in the area.

The surviving family of the above officer have graciously given permission to go through this pilot’s Flying Log Books and associated documents with a view to telling the story of his training, operational career and subsequent loss on active service whilst serving as a Lancaster pilot with 103 Squadron Royal Air Force.

Although born near Coldstream, his parents lived at Norham, and he attended Berwick Grammar School.

John Johnston enlisted in the Royal Air Force early in WWII and volunteered for aircrew duties. Subsequently selected for training as a pilot he went, as a number of Royal Air Force cadets did, for initial training in the USA at a civilian flying school. Here, at Albany, Georgia between July and August 1941, he flew the Stearman PT 17, which was the standard training machine of the time. He went solo in 12 hours and 40 minutes.

He returned to the UK in early 1942 as a Leading Aircraftman. His training “proper” started and at No 10 EFTS (Elementary Flying School) he spent some time on the DH82 Tiger Moth, gaining an Above Average classification. He completed his training at 28 EFTS having logged a total of 106 hours.

At this point it is to be noted that John must have been selected for training on bomber aircraft, which would now be extended to cover the flying of heavy aircraft. Unlike fighter pilots in early WW ll, who often arrived on squadrons with very little relevant flying experience, he would eventually complete his training ready to be posted, with his crew, to a front line Bomber squadron.

Between August 1942 and January 1943, Johnston, now commissioned as a Pilot Officer, honed his skills at RAFC Cranwell on the Oxford twin-engined trainer, completing a total of 140 hours on this type and attaining an Average assessment.

During March to July 1943, Plt Off Johnston flew the Wellington at an Operational Training Unit, gaining an Above Average classification. He then transferred to 1656 Heavy Conversion Unit where he went solo, with his crew, in the four engined Halifax after only 2 hours and 35 minutes on type. His Above Average classification was obviously well deserved when he and his crew subsequently went solo in the Lancaster on the 7th July after a conversion of only 1 hour 30 minutes. His training as a heavy bomber pilot finished on 30th July with a grand total of 380 hours in his log book.

Plt Off Johnston joined 103 Squadron RAF at Elsham Wolds in August 1943 at a time when Bomber Command losses were increasing dramatically as the war in the air was taken to Germany. A great number of squadrons were either being, or had been, equipped with the four-engined Stirling, Halifax and Lancaster but there were still some squadrons operating the Wellington in the medium bomber role.

Consider Johnston’s situation in August 1943 as his training as a bomber pilot finished …...

When he joined 103 Squadron he had flown a total of just over 380 hours but a minimal number of hours in the Lancaster and certainly would never have taken off with a fully loaded aircraft. The normal bomb load for the Lancaster was one 4000lb blast bomb (the ‘cookie’) which resembled two 40 gallon petrol drums filled with high explosive. These had no penetration powers and merely flattened the target with the effects of the explosion. In addition, up to three 1000 lb HE bombs were carried and, depending on the target, a number of SBC canisters (up to 16) each containing 92 incendiary bombs. With up to 2200 gallons of fuel on board the aircraft was very heavy and required delicate handling.

After only two local training flights with his crew, his first operation, lasting nearly nine hours, was to Nurnberg on 27th August 1943 with another captain. This must have gone well since he was promoted to aircraft Captain and continued his first tour of operations.

The privilege of going through an operational bomber pilot’s Flying Log Book is one which is receding as time goes by, but knowing the final outcome made the experience all the more more poignant.

John Johnston made 22 operational bombing flights over Germany encompassing the one so called “easy” target in Italy where there were no losses, to those in the Ruhr and Berlin where the loss rate was often as high as 8% of the bomber force operating. He laconically records on his third op “ FW 190 seen”. Obviously the German fighter was having a night off! On another occasion over Ludwigshafen he notes “coned ( by searchlight) for 11 minutes . . . hit by flak in nose of aircraft ”.

Fg. Off. Johnston and his crew were lost at Grebs on the 23rd November 1943 on their third trip to Berlin in 5 nights. Four of his crew escaped by parachute to become prisoners of war. Two were killed and were initially buried locally then in the Berlin War Cemetery. Fg. Off. Johnston was not found and is commemorated on the Runnymede memorial.

During the time he spent on 103 Squadron from late August to 23rd November, the Squadron lost 14 aircraft and a total of 98 aircrew. Of these 69 were killed, 21 became prisoners of war and 8 evaded capture to return to the UK by various routes - not unusual losses for a main force bomber squadron.

Letters to the pilot’s wife give some idea of the workload with which squadron commanders were faced on a daily basis spreading the news of the deaths of their comrades. Also included in the papers is a letter awarding Fg.Off. Johnston the medal of the 1939/43 Star which was sent to him on the day of his death.

Fg.Off. John Johnston was only one of over 55000 aircrew lost by Bomber Command during the offensive over Germany in WWII but it is worth recording again our thanks to his family who have allowed the Project to use his surviving documents to give some background to their work.

To put the above losses in perspective, the bomber force would sometimes lose over 70 aircraft on a single night’s operations. Whilst not all the occupants were killed this could amount to up to 450 aircrew. Compare this to our losses in Afghanistan over 10 years.
George Brown
18th Feb 2014

Tony Hibberd has added the following:

Lancaster JB528 PM-Q had departed Elsham Wolds at 1706 for Ops Berlin. It was intercepted at 5500M above Grebs, 20km SW of Brandenburg by a Night-Fighter captained by Nacht-Jagd “Experten” Oblt Ludwig Meister and shot down at 2016 for his 16th Abschuss.

Tony Hibberd has added the following:
Lancaster JB528 PM-Q had departed Elsham Wolds at 1706 for Ops Berlin. It was intercepted at 5500M above Grebs, 20km SW of Brandenburg by a Night-Fighter captained by Nacht-Jagd “Experten” Oblt Ludwig Meister and shot down at 2016 for his 16th Abschuss.
Nachtjagd Combat Archive 1943 Part 3 Dr Theo Boiten

John David Johnston is remembered on N27.01, N27.04, N27.05 and B25.35

The CWGC entry for Flying Officer Johnston