John Backhouse [Johnny] Topham was born on Saturday 9th December 1916 the only child of Frank [born 1893/4] and Margaret Ann Topham [born 3rd October 1894], at Cowpen, Blyth. He was named after his maternal grandfather, John Backhouse, [born 8th May 1865], who had married Elizabeth Nicholson, [born 1st March 1871] in 1893.

When John was born, his father, Private Frank Topham 1278, was fighting with the Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own Yorkshire Regiment [The Green Howards] in France and Belgium in WW1. Frank married John’s mother Margaret whilst on home leave on Saturday 25th March 1916 and like many wartime romances it appears not to have lasted. After the war, Frank, a butcher by trade, failed to settle into civilian life with his new family and re-enlisted into the army in 1920. He died sometime before 1939 probably whilst on overseas duties and no more is known about him.

John Backhouse Topham was brought up by his mother in a small terraced house at 38, Lynn Street, Blyth with his grandparents close by; he was educated at the New Delaval Secondary School at Blyth. John played football for local teams and he left school after the end of Form 4 in the spring of 1931. He was 15 years old and he immediately (May 1931) began work as a garage assistant with Mr R. Wilson at Caudwell Lane, Monkseaton but left there shortly afterwards, in December.

John appears to have had a good relationship with an old schoolmaster, Mr R P Redford, whom he used for job references. Mr Redford may have written a letter of introduction to accompany John’s application to the Coldstream Guards. John was 6ft 3in tall with brown hair and eyes, a chest measurement of 37in and a weight of 14st 11lb; at some stage he acquired the nickname of 'Tiny Topham'. His application to the Coldstream Guards was successful and he was enlisted into the 2nd Battalion as Guardsman J. B. Topham 2656112 on the 8th September 1933.

After more than 3 years of service with the Guards and at the age of 20 years, he purchased his own discharge on the 4th May 1937.

John then applied for employment with the Northumberland County Police Force but was rejected on the 10th February 1937. He had more success with his application to the Newcastle-upon-Tyne Police Force and was accepted by them on the 7th May 1937. His starting salary with the police was 62 shillings/week; he served as Constable J. B. Topham (number 87, A Division) until shortly after the outbreak of war. Whilst serving with the police, he lived with his elderly maternal grandparents, John and Elizabeth Backhouse (now retired) and his now widowed mother at the new family home of 2, Amberley Gardens, High Heaton, Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

With the outbreak of WW2, John joined the RAF and was placed on the Volunteer Reserve List on the 9th May 1941. He continued as a policeman until he was struck off on the 21st August in time for his mobilisation 4 days later. He was chosen for Pilot Training and given the rank of Aircraftman 2, the lowest rank possible. He was promoted to Leading Aircraftman on the 7th November 1941.

On Saturday 25th April 1942, whilst in training at RAF Heaton Park, John married Margaret Tait, a spinster and teacher and a home town sweetheart. The couple married in St Margaret’s Church in Prestwich near John’s base in Manchester.

Only a month after his wedding, John was posted to Canada for further flying experience. He completed his flight requirements and was awarded his Pilot’s Flying Badge on 1st January 1943. He returned from Canada later the same month on 25th January and spent the rest of that year gaining familiarity with British combat aircraft; he was at Whitley Bay, Northumberland in March and RAF Watchfield in June. On 1st January 1944 he was promoted to Flight Sergeant and he progressed to fly Wellingtons and Stirlings [big 4 engined aircraft], at the Heavy Conversion Unit at RAF Stradishall near Haverhill, Suffolk.

On 14th March 1944, he was posted to RAF Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire as an operational pilot with 514 Squadron, Bomber Command. 514 Squadron was formed on 1st September 1943 at Foulsham, Norfolk as a heavy bomber squadron flying Lancasters.

He skippered a Lancaster bomber on 26 bombing raids into France and Germany before disaster struck him and his crew late that summer.

On the 3rd August, 1944, he took off from Waterbeach at 9.30am destined to attack a German flying bomb site in France. Whilst over the target, his Lancaster was crippled by bombs dropped from a higher flying Allied aircraft. Flight-Lieutenant Topham skilfully crash-landed the bomber at 14.00 hours near a wood about 5 km South of Nerville (N.W, Europe 1.250.000, Sheet 7 S0269). He and his crew all escaped the burning aircraft but John broke a leg and suffered other injuries.

In their attempts to avoid capture, the crew became dispersed. John Topham, Flying Officer Baxter and Sergeant Read hid in the wood until the evening of the following day. Flying Officer Baxter then walked to the outskirts of Nerville where he approached a house and contacted sympathetic locals; he returned with two Frenchman. The three survivors were then taken to another part of the wood and were given food and civilian clothing. Later that day a doctor was taken to their hiding place and their injuries were treated. The doctor then took Topham (disabled with leg injuries) by car to an address in Beaumont (S 0375). Baxter and Read were left in the wood. Topham never saw them again. He was hidden at various places in Beaumont until a search by the Gestapo required him to be entombed in a grave 4ft deep. He was left to breathe through a rubber tube and told that his ordeal would last no more than about 30min. In the event, he was buried alive for 36hr before he could be safely dug out. He was by now in a very poor state. With little time to recover, the Gestapo returned and John refused to be re-interred. He was discovered by a single German officer and armed with a revolver, John shot the man dead and buried him in the makeshift grave. Luckily, the following day, 1st September, Allied forces liberated Beaumont and Topham’s repatriation was secured.

From the 1-7th September, John Topham was treated in various hospitals in France before he returned to the UK in a hospital ship, an old Boston ferry boat. He arrived at Southampton on the 8th September and was sent to various hospitals in the UK. He ended up at RAF Weeton Hospital, Preston and was discharged from there with 28 days sick leave on the 23rd September.

John Backhouse Topham was promoted to the rank of Flying Officer on the 20th June 1944 and his commission was "Gazetted" on the 22nd August whilst he was missing in action in France.

On the 9th October he was ordered to report to M.I.9 for debriefing

Source : National Archives

John’s career as a bomber pilot ended with his escape from France; he had survived great hardships and was stood down. For the skill he displayed as a bomber pilot in combat and for his bravery whilst in occupied France, John Topham was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and this honour was published in the London Gazette on 6th February 1945.

On 3rd April 1945 John Topham was posted to No.105 (Transport) Operational Training Unit at RAF Bramcote, near Nuneaton, Warwickshire. Here he flew Vickers Wellingtons and Douglas Dakotas before being posted to Transport Command Holding Section at Morecambe on the 1st August. From there, a week later, he flew to join 229 Group in Burma. What route he followed and how long the journey took is unknown. Possibly a flight to a British base in North Africa followed by subsequent legs to Cape Town, Calcutta and Rangoon.

229 Group was the transport division of The Tactical Air Force (Burma), a force that was formed on 19th December 1943 to conduct air offensives against the Japanese. The Japanese were defeated in Burma in July 1945 so when John arrived there a month later, he was only required to fly supplies to British forces and to evacuate casualties.

John returned from Burma on March 26th 1946 and was transferred back into Technical Training Command, this time into No. 104 Personnel Dispersal Centre at Hednesford, Staffordshire. This unit dealt with the demobilisation of all RAF returning from overseas. He was released from service on 13th April 1946 and his last day of service was 25th June.

Between release from the RAF and his cessation of service, John negotiated a return to his old job as a police constable with the Newcastle force. His return to civilian duty commenced smoothly on 26th June 1946, he was now PC 413, A Division.

On his initial return to Newcastle John probably resided with his wartime wife Margaret Tait at their home of 112, Rothesay Terrace, Bedlington before marriage breakdown led him to move out and find accommodation again with his mother and grandparents at 2, Amberley Gardens.

John began a love affair with Bertha Hall, a nursing sister at Newcastle Royal Victoria Infirmary sometime shortly after his return to Newcastle in July 1946. Bertha fell pregnant in March of 1947.

The aftermath of WW2 like that of WW1 left many military men trapped in hasty loveless marriages with no means of escape from faithful wives. Consequently rates of bigamy rose after WW1 and rates of divorce more than doubled after WW2. Husbands were reliant on wives divorcing them on grounds of adultery and when in the late 1940s wives refused to comply, new female partners changed their surnames by deed poll to give a semblance of respectability to their co-habitation with a married man. Such behaviour led the Church of England to write a report to the Lord Chancellor denigrating the practice and requesting legislation.

John and Bertha were typical of their era; Bertha legally changed her surname to 'Topham' in September 1947 so that when her child was born in the November, she and John could live together with their baby as a Topham family. Margaret Tait, for her own benefit or to accommodate John’s wishes began divorce proceedings against him and was granted a decree absolute on 11th August 1948, just 9 months after Bertha’s untimely death in childbirth on 13th November 1947. On that fateful day, Bertha was delivered of a healthy boy, Nigel John Topham before she and a second child, a twin boy, both died in a complicated ongoing labour. Had Bertha survived, there seems little doubt that she and John would have married before 1948 was out.

Between September and December 1947, John witnessed the deaths of not only Bertha but also of both of his beloved grandparents, John and Elizabeth Backhouse.

On the 15th March 1949, PC John Topham was in Court for failing to give free passage to pedestrians on a Belisha crossing. The case was dismissed due to 'exceptional circumstances' under the Probation Act.

On 22nd February 1949, Police car driver John Topham responded to a 999 call and rescued a mother and baby from the River Tyne. As no ambulance was available, John rushed the pair to hospital whilst a colleague gave first aid on the back seat
As he drove at speed through Newcastle's main shopping centre Police Constable Topham was in court. A complainant, Mr S. Bell, 68years, said he had to 'jump for it' when Topham drove by at violent speed.

John pleaded not guilty to failing to give free passage to pedestrians on a Belisha crossing; in his defence he stated that most pedestrians had stopped and waved him on. His Defence Counsel, Mr W McKeag submitted that it was a case of dire emergency.

The Newcastle Magistrate said Here is an officer, about whom nothing but good can be said. He dismissed the case because Constable Topham was exceptionally concerned and worried in the execution of his duties.

John fell in love again and proposed to Doris Hunter, a Newcastle secretary and the pair were married on the 16th September 1950 at Newcastle Register Office. They moved into a new home together at 112, Stephenson Road, Heaton, Newcastle-upon-Tyne within walking distance of his mother now alone in Amberley Gardens. John then resigned from the police for a second time on the 19th May 1951 and was released by them on 31st May 1951 to accept another commission in the RAF. Finally, John agreed to allow his son Nigel to be adopted by his maternal grandmother, Joanna Hall and through a formal process Nigel John Topham became Nigel John Hall on 28th November 1951, a fortnight after his fourth birthday.

John’s renewed commission as a pilot with the RAF required him to report for duty with Transport Command at RAF Hendon, Surrey. He recommenced his career on 14th June 1951 with his old rank of Flying Officer; the same day the London Gazette published his commission as a short term appointment of seven years on active service and 4 years in reserve.

3 weeks later he was transferred from Hendon to Oakington, Cambridgeshire and there he retrained at 101 Flight Refresher school under the jurisdiction of Flight Training Command. After 2 months, on 19th November he was once again posted to Transport Command initially with 242 Operations Conversion Unit (OCU) at RAF Dishforth. He remained at Dishforth for 7 months and then on 9th June 1952 he was posted to 53 Squadron at RAF Topcliffe, North Yorkshire. At both Dishforth and Topcliffe he flew Handley Page Hastings transports.

On 13th December 1954 John left 53 Squadron and Transport Command and was posted to the Far East Air Force to participate in the Malayan Emergency of 1948-1960. He was probably sent to this active war zone because of his experience of flying over jungles in Burma in 1945/6. As in Burma, he flew the Douglas Dakota aeroplane on photographic missions, supply drops and casualty evacuations. He served there for 18 months.

John returned from Malaya in July 1956 and after a period of leave, he was posted to 511 Squadron, Transport Command, based at RAF Lyneham, Chippenham, Wiltshire .

Whilst here, he volunteered to fly his Handley Page Hastings transport to Cyprus on a mercy mission to save a woman’s life. There an officer's wife was being kept alive by the manual operation of an iron lung by Army personnel working non-stop. Within an hour of the call, John and his Hastings transport were ready and waiting on the runway. He delivered the electrical apparatus necessary to work the iron lung along with an Army doctor Captain R.G. Willison, and a nursing sister Lieut. J. C. White.

On 1st September 1958, 511 Squadron moved to nearby RAF Colerne before it was disbanded and re-numbered 36 Squadron. John’s commission was made permanent on 12th September 1956 and he was promoted to his ultimate rank of Flight Lieutenant on 12th December 1958. He ended his flying days with 36 Squadron and left them on 25th January 1960 to become a student on the 82 Joint Air Traffic Control Course at Shawbury, Shropshire. Inexplicably, he was withdrawn from this course after 2 months and on 5th April he was transferred to No. 49 Long Photographic Interpretation Course at RAF Upwood, Cambridgeshire. He completed his 2 month training at the Joint School of Photographic Interpretation and was finally sent to RAF Cottesmore, Rutland no doubt to examine aerial photographs taken as part of the cold war with the USSR. This last assignment brought him full circle as he was again a member of Bomber Command. He remained at RAF Cottesmore for 6 years and there with his wife Doris he made plans for retirement. He was sent on 2 pre-release induction courses to the Licensed Trade’s Residential Training Centre at Buxton, Derbyshire and left the RAF on 28th October 1966.

John and Doris then either acquired the lease or bought The Black Bull Inn at Market Overton still in Rutland and not far from RAF Cottesmore. By 1973, the couple had returned to their roots in North East of England and took up residence at 49, Brookfield Crescent, Chapel House Estate, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Here John was employed as a garage proprietor, work he had known as a teenager.

Tragically, John Backhouse Topham was killed on 18th July 1975 when he stepped out of his parked van into the path of an overtaking lorry on Stanhope Street. He was on his way to the bank to deposit the day’s takings from his garage; his accompanying pet dog, Peter, a black Labrador remained seated in the vehicle and was unharmed. Sadly, the dog spent many subsequent hours sitting outside John’s front door patiently waiting for him to come home.

John’s love of dogs probably began with his mother who kept a succession of Alsatians. Bertha Hall’s family at Middleton-One-Row near Darlington kept a succession of black Labradors all called "Peter". Was John’s last dog a private tribute to his lost love, Bertha?

His funeral was held at the West Road Crematorium on 24th July and his ashes were scattered in the garden of remembrance there. His name is displayed in the book of remembrance every year on the anniversary of his death – 18th July.

Simon Glancey has submitted this:

The Morpeth Herald and Reporter Friday, 02/02/1945 had the following:
Acting Flying Officer John Backhouse Topham, of Bedlington, has been awarded the D.F.C. for courage, fortitude and devotion to duty. He was commissioned in 1944 and was educated at New Delaval Secondary School, Blyth.

His D.F.C. was gazetted in the London Gazette, 6th February 1945, and the following recommendation was made for the award:
A/FO John Backhouse TOPHAM (178865) RAFVR 514 Sqn. Flying Officer Topham has taken part in twenty six successful operational sorties as pilot & captain of Lancaster aircraft. These sorties include a wide variety of attacks on heavily defended German targets & important targets in enemy occupied territory. He is a most determined pilot & has set a praiseworthy example by his keenness to take part in operations. During a daylight attack on BOIS-DE-CASSAN, his aircraft was struck by falling bombs from one of our own aircraft & was so extensively damaged that Flying Officer Topham had no alternative other than to make a crash landing in enemy occupied territory. The landing was very skilfully executed & the crew escaped injury, except Flying Officer Topham whose legs were injured. In spite of his injuries he managed to get away from the aircraft & evade capture & after a considerable period of waiting during which he endured amazing hardships, he made contact with a resistance Organisation & was cared for by them until our advancing armies captured the place where he was hiding. Flying Officer Topham is strongly recommended for the award of the Distinguished Flying Cross in recognition of his great courage & his excellent operational record'. The raid on Bois-De-Casson, a flying-bomb supply depot, took place on 3 August 1944. Six of Topham's crew (Lancaster LL716) were taken prisoner, with only himself & the mid-upper air gunner (F Sgt F W Dennehy) evading capture. Topham always believed that he alone survived being captured. The above recommendation refers to 'amazing hardships' & one of these was to be buried in a makeshift grave for some 36 hours, breathing through a narrow tube. Contact was made with the advancing Allied Forces on 1 September 1944 & the full story emerged. His Station Commander at RAF Waterbeach, on seeing the intelligence debrief, lost little time in recommending Topham for IMMEDIATE DFC.

Source : National Archives file AIR 2/9648

He was the pilot of Avro Lancaster III LL716 A2-G of 514 Squadron, shot down at 14.10 hours near Beaumont in the Oise region of northern France.
Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War: 1944; W.R. Chorley; 1997; Midland Counties Publications; ISBN 0 904597 91 1, page 367

He was died in a road traffic accident on the 18th July 1975.

The Newcastle Journal 19/07/1975 reports the following:
War hero killed by lorry

An ex-war hero was killed yesterday when he stepped out of a parked van into the path of an overtaking lorry.

Mr. John Topham, aged 58, of Brookfield Crescent, Chapel House Estate, Newcastle, was knocked down in Stanhope Street, Newcastle, yesterday afternoon and was dead on arrival at Newcastle General Hospital.

He was an ex-Newcastle city police constable who was awarded the D.F.C. during his wartime service as a flight lieutenant with the R.A.F.

He was shot down over France and broke both legs, and was cared for by a French family, members of the Resistance movement, who hid him from the Germans by burying him in hay.

After his escape from the search party he was looked after by nuns, then made his way back to England where he re-joined the R.A.F. and flew in Burma.

He made more than 90 operational flights during the war.

After a brief spell back with the city police force, Mr. Topham returned to the R.A.F. and transport command all over the world until his retirement about six years ago.

Newcastle Journal 24/07/2008 reports the story, with a photo, of Flight Lieutenant John B. Topham, who earned the D.F.C. in 1939-45. His medals were to be sold by Corbitt’s.

His wife died on the 4th September 1993 and was 78 years old. The service was held at the West Road Crematorium on Friday 10th September at 12 noon.

Source: Newcastle Journal 08/09/1993.

Research by: Nick Hall with invaluable photographs, newspaper cuttings and personal collections provided by Michelle Bell, daughter of Leonard Twizell, John's neighbour, Malcolm Fenwick, John's cousin and John Hunter, John's nephew.

For a detailed account of John Backhouse Topham see file below.