My Mates Dad, A 100% Genuine War Hero.

 

On Friday evening, we had our friends Nick and Karen over for a BBQ. Karen is one of my wife's oldest friends - they were at high school together and share the same birthday - and Nick is the guy she met and married on her OE (Overseas Experience) in the UK 35 years ago or thereabouts.

I have heard the story about Nicks dad previously, but this time, I went online to find some actual details (see below), and I will add some extra commentary at the end:

The Daily Mail 11 June 2012

Betrayal of a hero: He flew 92 missions as a rear gunner in the Second World War. So why won't bureaucrats let Freddie Johnson, 91, attend the unveiling of a memorial to his comrades in Bomber Command?

War Hero Freddie Johnson, 91, won six medals during the war.

He was shot down twice during 92 bombing raids.

But despite his efforts, bureaucrats say there are no tickets left for the unveiling so he can't go.

The new Bomber Command memorial will be unveiled by the Queen in Green Park, London on June 28.

Among a rapidly dwindling band, no one epitomises the courage and heroism of the Bomber Command veterans more than Freddie 'Johnny' Johnson.

A survivor of 92 missions during five years of service in the Second World War, the highly decorated rear gunner was shot down twice – once behind enemy lines – but lived to fight another day.

Now aged 91 and a wheelchair user, he could have expected to be a VIP guest at the unveiling of a long-awaited £6.5million Bomber Command memorial in Green Park in central London.

But despite his distinguished service and years of work helping to raise money for the memorial appeal, Mr. Johnson has been told he cannot attend the ceremony on June 28 because there are no tickets left.

The memorial, a sculpture which features seven bomber air crew members, is expected to be unveiled by the Queen.

It is seen as overdue recognition for the bomber crews whose place in history has been widely played down because of the high number of civilian deaths they caused.

Mr Johnson's family are furious about the snub. They found out too late that veterans had to apply for tickets, like anyone else wanting to attend.

Now the entire allocation has been taken up, largely by relatives of those who served on the bombers, and Mr Johnson has been told he can't go.

His daughter Mandy Stewart, 56, said: 'How can they expect a 91-year-old war veteran to sort this out himself?

'He's a member of the RAF Association so it couldn't have been that hard to trace him and invite him to the ceremony.

'We feel that precedence should be given to those who were actually there.'

Mr Johnson, of Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, supported numerous fundraising events over the years which finally led to the memorial being given the go ahead.

He said: 'I would have loved to have gone. I was very pleased when I heard it was being built.'

Like many other veterans he was determined that the 55,573 bomber crew who lost their lives should be given a fitting memorial.

Mr Johnson was 20 when he joined the RAF. As a rear gunner he had a life expectancy of six weeks but went on to survive the entire war and earn six medals, including the Distinguished Flying Cross, in the process.

There were 25 missions over Germany, as well as stints in Burma and North Africa in Wellington and Halifax bombers.

Mr Johnson's closest shave came at El Alamein in 1942 when his plane was shot down. He survived by a stroke of luck when the turret of his plane where he was sitting came away as the aircraft crashed into the desert. The front end of the plane exploded, killing four men on board, but he survived.

Despite being behind enemy lines he marched off into the desert and was picked up by a group of British soldiers who had spotted the crash.

A second crash occurred when his plane was shot down near the Burma border, and on this occasion everyone survived.

The rear gunner badly damaged his leg in another operation and was in hospital when his medal and letter from the King arrived. He still has pins in his legs and suffers severe arthritis.

He remains fiercely proud of his war years and his wife Jean, 85, believes the authorities have let him down.

She said: 'It's a shame. He is bitterly disappointed. There can't be that many veterans left who saw such long service and were presented with so many medals. This memorial is what my husband has been waiting for. At one point in the war the bombers were all we had. The bombers deserve this.'

The memorial organisers said that they were extremely sorry that Mr Johnson and other veterans had been unable to get tickets to the event.

A spokesman said: 'The problem is we have been absolutely overwhelmed by demand for tickets. We have a license limiting us to 6,500 guests which we cannot exceed and have prioritised two groups – people who lost relatives such as husbands and fathers, and veterans who flew in the planes.

'But we still probably have at least 1,000 people who would like to attend but cannot come. Other events will be staged at the memorial later in the year and we would hope that people who cannot get a ticket this time will be able to attend one of those functions.'

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• Nick told me his grandfather was furious that his dad joined the RAF, because he was actually a trained engineer and therefore in a reserved occupation - they did not speak for some time after Freddie joined up!
• At one point, he got sick and had to spend some time in hospital - whilst he was absent, the entire crew (or possibly squadron) was wiped out attacking German supply routes across the Mediterranean.
• At the time all the fuss was being made in the press, a senior RAF officer apparently said his claim to have completed 92 missions was "impossible". However, because he was the sole survivor of the crash at El Alamein, he became a "spare" air gunner with his unit, and thus went on a lot more missions than most crews - the 92 is verified in RAF documents and may be a record no one else in Bomber Command could match!
• He and his family were particularly annoyed by the situation because the NZ and Australian governments went out of their way to track down all surviving members of Bomber Command and flew them at public expense to the UK to attend the ceremony - but the British Government could not track down a record-breaking DFC holder in Yorkshire!
• Because of his service and advanced years, Freddie had been made whatever the RAF equivalent of Honorary Colonel is for several RAF bases and squadrons. One of the serving RAF base commanders mentioned the situation to a friend of his, who just happened to be serving as an equerry or ADC to the Queen, the response being "Bloody disgrace, I will bring it to HRH's attention!"

Suffice it to say, after the national news media picked up the story, (and perhaps with some intervention from the Queen?!) the situation did get resolved and Freddie was able to attend the opening ceremony in London.

And finally, here is something from an RAF FB page I came across when researching the story:

If you are interested in more, the Imperial War Museum recorded an oral history with Freddie, before he died - you can find it here Johnson, Frederick Ernest (Oral history) | Imperial War Museums (iwm.org.uk)

Blurb from the IWM website - if you made this into a movie, people would say it is too far-fetched!

Description

Object description

British NCO served as air gunner with 21 Operational Training Unit at RAF Moreton in Marsh, GB, 1942; served with 302 and 314 Sqdns, RAF in North Africa, 1942; served with 36 Sqdn, RAF in Burma, 1943; officer served with 78 Sqdn, RAF in GB, 1944; served as instructor at RAF Marston Moor in GB, 1944-1945; served as assistant adjutant at RAF Full Sutton in GB, 1945

Content description

REEL 1 Background in GB, 1920-1940: family; father's military service; interception by his father of his application letter to join RAF, c1936; influence of his cousin an Air Commodore on his RAF career; sporting activities; reaction to declaration of Second World War, 9/1939; release from reserved occupation. Recollections of enlistment and training as air gunner with RAF in GB, 1941-1942: call up; induction at RAF Cardington; drill at Morecombe; adapting to RAF life; esprit de corps amongst recruits; origins of recruits; posting to RAF Dingwall; sight of German Dornier Do 17 attempt to surrender; training on Bofors gun; air gunnery training in Boulton Paul Defiant; fatal accident during training; character of gunnery training; range of Browning machine gun; ammunition and aiming points; difficulty of spotting targets at night. 

REEL 2 Continues: reasons for rarely opening fire during operational service; story of German Junkers Ju 88 flying alongside aircraft during raid on Essen; Morse Code training at Blackpool; crewing up at 21 Operational Training Unit, RAF Moreton in Marsh, 1942; amusing story of falling out of aircraft; view from front turret of Vickers Wellington; problems during return from Thousand Bomber raid on Cologne; briefing prior to raid; preparations for going on raid including improvising turret release system; stoppages on Browning machine gun; threat of bombing by own aircraft and collisions during raids; incident of rear gunner losing his nerve; uncomfortable nature of turrets; flying clothing; sight of flames of Cologne from distance. 

REEL 3 Continues: role of bomb aimer; debriefing after Thousand Bomber raid; fatigue during debriefing; reaction to loss of crews; story of death of crew during last raid. Aspects of journey from GB to Egypt, 1942: flight from GB to Gibraltar; contracting malaria in West Africa and leaving squadron; fate of crews in Malta. Aspects of operations as air gunner with 302 and 314 Sqdns, RAF in North Africa, 1942: story of being shot down during low level attack and walk through desert, 10/1942; story of encounter with Russian pilots in transit in Iraq; role attacking retreating German ground forces; German use of Junkers Ju 87 Stukas; reduced use of Vickers Wellington; attitude to serving with different crews; problems of operating in desert. 

REEL 4 Continues: in transit across India. Aspects of operations as air gunner with 36 Sqdn, RAF in Burma, 1943: arrival in Chittagong; attacks on Japanese occupied lighthouse; an unlucky Irish crew; Welsh pilot who crashed in Japanese held territory; character of operations including use of machine guns; composition of crew; crash landing after attack by Japanese fighter; hospitalisation after crash for shock; return to squadron; daylight operations; losses of crews; reputations of Sikhs; altitudes flown at in Burma; supply drops; serving with infantry; return to GB; contrast between service in Middle and Far East; incident of snake bite. 

REEL 5 Continues: prior recollection recommendation for Distinguished Flying Medal in Egypt; role as reserve gunner in Middle East; physical condition on return to GB. Recollections of operations as air gunner with 78 Sqdn, RAF in GB, 1944: posting to squadron at RAF Ricoll; comparison between Handley Page Halifax and Vickers Wellington; incident of crash on take off; gunnery training as mid upper gunner in North Sea; first night operation against airfield in France; German night fighters attacking marginal aircraft in bomber stream; reiteration of story of Junkers Ju 88 flying alongside aircraft during raid on Essen, Germany; evidence of near miss during raid; question of sleeping on raids; reasons for award of Distinguished Flying Cross; damage to aircraft during attack on V weapon site in France; presence of army captain during raid on V weapon site; number operations flown over D-Day, 6/6/1944. 

REEL 6 Continues: sight of invasion in Normandy, 6/6/1944; attacks on coastal gun emplacements in Normandy; reasons for improvements in bombing accuracy; supporting Canadian ground forces; destruction of anti-aircraft guns by North American Mustang; supply drop at Arnhem, Netherlands; lavatory and rest bed on board aircraft; loss of former crew member on last operation; rations taken on trips; tempo of raids; post war confrontation about Dresden raid; briefings prior to attacks in Normandy; security breaches before Operation Market Garden. Aspects of period as instructor at RAF Marston Moor, 1944-1945: crash on landing; hospitalisation for injuries; background to transfer; instructional methods in air gunnery. Aspects of period as assistant adjutant at RAF Full Sutton, GB, 1945: duties; dealing with complaints about behaviour. 

REEL 7 Continues: story of getting in trouble with RAF Police over accusation of theft; VE Day celebrations; background to not signing on in RAF; incident of Canadian involved in car accident; VJ Day and attitude to dropping of atomic bomb. Aspects of demobilisation and return to civilian life in GB from 1945: treatment by former employees; employment; question of adjusting to civilian life. Attitude to having served with RAF during Second World War.

"Lest We Forget"