Word Celebrity Blog

James Edgar Johnson


















James Edgar Johnson was born on March 9th, 1915 at Barrow-upon-Soar, Leicestershire, England.  He was the son of the local policeman Alfred Johnson.




















He was later educated at Loughborough Grammar School. During his time there he was expelled after being found in the school's swimming pool with a young lady, which was very taboo at the time.

Among his hobbies was a mixture of hunting and sports. "Johnnie" Johnson would hunt rabbits and birds in the local countryside. He continued to play rugby in his spare time as well. In 1938, "Johnnie" sustained a broken collar bone playing for the Chingford Rugby Club near the Epping Forest. "Johnnie" was treated but later it would cause him difficulty.

"I always wanted to fly," Johnnie" recalled. "But I had a lot of trouble. My old man wouldn't let me sign the papers to join up. He thought it was a young and frivolous service."

"Johnnie" Johnson attended University of Nottingham, where he qualified as a civil engineer at the age of 22. He wanted to follow up his interest in aviation and make it a career.


























He applied to join the Auxiliary Air Force and the RAF Volunteer Reserve before the war. But, unknown to him, a broken collarbone which he had sustained while playing rugby had not properly set, and his application was turned down. Eventually he joined the Territorial Army as a part-time soldier, and spent his time during weekend leaves taking flying lessons at a nearby airfield. He paid for the lessons himself!.

After the Munich Crisis, the standards of the RAF were relaxed as the service expanded and brought in much needed combat personnel. Johnson applied again to join the Royal Air and this time "Johnnie" Johnson was accepted.






















"Johnnie" Johnson joined No.19 Squadron RAF at the end of August 1940. He arrived at a unit that had no time to train new pilots and he was therefore soon moved to no. 616 Squadron. Here, an old rugby injury, a broken collarbone with attendant trapped nerves, led to his hospitalization and therefor he missed the "Battle of Britain". 



















When he returned to his squadron, he found that the Wing was now commanded by the legendary ace Douglas Bader. Johnnie was an eager student and endeavored to learn as much as possible from this inspiring leader. "He taught us the true meaning of courage, spirit and determination"  He was chosen to fly with Douglas Bader as his wing man in sweeps over Europe. He was then made a Wing Commander, and like Douglas Bader, was later posted to lead the Canadian Squadron.


























He led by example and earned the respect of his men, along the way notching up many more victories against the superior Focke Wolf 190 in his Spitfire.  "Johnnie"  likened aerial combat to shooting at wildfowl, except that there was a chance that the enemy plane might shoot back!

"Johnnie" Johnson gained a half share in a Do17 in January 1941, but opened his scoring properly in June, destroying a Bf109. In 1941 Johnson was awarded the DFC and was promoted to Flight Commander.

In July 1942 he took command of No.610 Squadron and led No.610 over Dieppe in August.  During a period of leave time,  in November 1942,  he married Pauline Ingate and they were to have two sons.


























In March 1943 he took command of the Canadian wing at Kenley.  "Johnnie" Johnson gained the respect of the Canadians and moulded the Kenley wing into a formidable fighting force.





















In June 1943, he was awarded a DSO. In September a Bar was added to the DSO. "Johnnie" Johnson built his tally up mostly in 1943 and 1944, when the Luftwaffe was on the defensive and the Allies ruled the skies over North-West Europe.

On September 29, 1944, the Canadian Press wrote: "Spitfire pilots of three Canadian fighter wings destroyed at least 28 German aircraft today, raising their score for the week to more than 80. The RCAF reported from Belgium that pilots of a Belgian-based wing under the command of Wing Cmdr. W. R. MacBrien of Ottawa, shot down nine German planes and damaged two others."

"A Reuter News agency correspondent in a field dispatch credited wings commanded by Wing Cmdr. Dal Russel, D.F.C., of Westmount, Que., and Wing Cmdr. J. E. (Johnnie) Johnson, English-born leader of a Canadian wing, with 10 and nine respectfully. Ft. Lt. Gordon Ockenden of Edmonton, Flt. Lt. Gordon Smith of Nelson, B.C., and FO. R. A. Hodgins of Ottawa each scored double victories as MacBrien's wing smashed up German formations of fighters over Nijmegen, Holland, near the northern tip of the British 2nd Army's corridor through Holland. Single kills were credited to FO. A. J. Horrell of Windsor, Ont., FO. K. M. Langmuir of Toronto, and Flt. Lt. Cap Foster of Grimsby, Ont. Flt. Lt. B. T. Gilmour of St. Thomas, Ont., and FO. F. R. Kearns of Quyon, Ont., each claimed to have damaged an enemy plane. Foster's victory was a "revenge" kill. The Grimsby pilot was forced to bail out behind the Allied lines Sunday when an ME-109 blew up the engine of his Spitfire, but today he got another ME-109 in his sights and brought it down with a four-second burst. "I was pretty mad and thinking of what happened to me the other day," Foster said. "He blew up, and I had to dodge the debris. I guess things are evened up now." Names of the scorers in the wings commanded by Russel and Johnson were not immediately available."




















Wing Commanders Johnny Johnson & Stan Turner.


Harold Mayes, who was With the Tactical Air Force in Belgium, wrote: "Sept, 27, 1944 -(Reuter)- Wing Cmdr. Johnnie Johnson, Britain's leading fighter pilot, shot down his 38th German aircraft today as the Canadian fighter wing he commands destroyed 14 planes and damaged six in fierce battles along the Rhine east of the Holland salient."

"Up to lunch time today Johnson's wing had brought its total of German planes destroyed in 1½ days to 23."

Reporters asked the question of why an R.A.F. man is commanding an R.C.A.F. Spitfire formation that is so full of Canadians that it could he called an all-Canada outfit with only the slightest exaggeration.

When it was put to Squadron. Leader. D. G. (Bud) Malloy at R.C.A.F. headquarters, who has a D.F.C. and won't admit it, that one-time fighter pilot immediately assumed a frankly pained expression and barely caught himself from snapping back: "Why not?"  Instead, he took this reporter gently by the hand and, with all the authority of an officer who is now in charge of flying training, made it clear that "Johnny Johnson is just as naturally with an R.C.A.F. wing as a lot of R.C.A.F. men are with R.A.F. formations — and I commanding them, too."

"It all goes back, so far as this particular wing is concerned, to the days when there were not enough Canadians to make it an all-Canadian formation. They started off with Wing Cmdr. Brian Kingcome, D.S.O., D.F.C. and Bar, one of those hardy Battle of Britain fighters. Kingcome is a group captain in Italy now."

"Then, when he went off for a rest, there was Wing Cmdr. Clarke (Knobby) Fee, D.F.C. and Bar, of the R.C.A.F. Fee came from Winnipeg and when he went missing, he was succeeded by Wing Cmdr. Keith Hodson, D.F.C. and Bar, and D.F.C. (U.S.). also of the R.C.A.F. When Hodson was taken off operations, Johnny Johnson took over. He did one tour with the wing, went out for a rest, and came back for another tour.}"

"Now," suggested Malloy "what is there more natural than that."

"Johnnie" Johnson surpassed the South African Malan's score in late 1944, becoming the RAF's top-scoring pilot. Malans' kills had all been scored in the dark days of 1940 to 1941. The status as the RAF's top-scoring pilot is disputed, with some claiming Finucane as the highest scorer.





















During his wartime flying, between September 1943 and March 1944, "Johnnie" Johnson rested in a Staff Appointment at HQ No.11 Group, before he was posted to lead No.144 wing (another Canadian unit).

On July 7th, 1944, Johnson received a second bar to his DSO and was promoted to Group Captain and appointed as Officer Commanding No.125 Wing on April 6th, 1945, he subsequently commanded No.124 Wing in Germany.


















Lord Trenchard with Group Captain 'Johnnie' Johnson at Kastrup, Copenhagen, May 1945 .


Flying the single-engine Spitfire fighter, Air Vice Marshal Johnson completed more than 1,000 missions. He was never shot down and acknowledged having been hit only once, when he was jumped by a group of Messerschmitts.



















While leading a unit of Canadian fighter pilots, Commander Johnson flew four missions over the Normandy beaches on D-Day, June 6, 1944. Two days later, his wing landed the first Allied fighters in France since 1940.

When a reporter tried to get Wing Commander Johnson to tell him of his reactions as he pursues an enemy and as he sees an adversary go down in flames, but he would only smile and say, "I feel the same as anyone else would."

His 38th and final kill came on September 27, 1944, near Venlo in the Netherlands, in a dogfight with nine Messerschmitts, when his Spitfire was hit for the first and only time in the war.

















After the end of the war Johnson was offered a permanent commission and stayed in the RAF.

In 1947, he reverted to his substantive rank of Wing Commander and attended RCAF Staff College, which prepared him for a string of senior appointments, including command of RAF Wildenrath, Germany and RAF Cottesmore, UK, Senior Staff Officer at No.3 group and AOC Air Forces Middle East. From 1950 to 1951 he had an exchange tour with the USAF, where he flew reconnaissance missions in Douglas B-26 Invaders and fighter-bomber sorties in the Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star, winning the US Air medal and Legion of Merit in Korea although he did not score any kills.


























"Johnnie" returned to England in 1952 to commander RAF Wildenrath, he was promoted group Captain in 1954 and served at the MOD until 1957.  He was station commander, RAF Cottesmore between 1957-1960, and was awarded CBE in June 1960, having been promoted to Air Commodore by now. In 1963, he was appointed AOC Air Forces Middle East at Aden and promoted to Air Vice Marshal.  In 1965 he was awarded another CBE.  By the time of retirement Johnnie Johnson was an Air Vice Marshal and his last active post was AOC Air Forces Middle East.

He told of his wartime exploits in his 1956 autobiography "Wing Leader."  - "There was never any euphoria in shooting down a plane," he said. "You just felt you had acquitted yourself well."

As Air Vice Marshal Johnson put it in an interview with The Leicester Mercury: "I remember sitting opposite this officer and he said, `Which pack do you hunt with?' I said, `I beg your pardon?' and I told him I spent all my money on flying lessons. And that was the end of that. Rejected."

In recounting his success, Air Vice Marshal Johnson conceded that the recruiting officer who turned him down back 1938 because he didn't hunt might have had a point. He eventually developed prowess with a shotgun and said he could usually kill two birds with three shots.

"The principles of deflection shooting against wildfowl and airplanes were exactly the same," he said. But he acknowledged one difference: "Airplanes could sometimes return your fire."



























Air Vice Marshal "Johnnie" Jonhson retired from the RAF in March 1966. He became a director of various companies and was a prolific author.

His RAF promotions were:
    * PO 10 August 1940
    * FO 10 August 1941
    * FL 10 August 1942
    * SL 16 June 1943
    * WC 4 October 1945
    * WC 1 July 1947
    * GC 1 January 1955
    * AC 1 July 1960
    * AVM 1 January 1963

Because of his previous injury, "Johnnie"  missed the battles in the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. He also failed to take part in the vital Battle of Britain. In 1941 Johnson began flying regularly and took part in the offensive sweeps over occupied Europe from 1941–44. Johnson was involved in heavy aerial fighting during this period. His combat tour included the Battle of Normandy, Operation Market Garden and the Battle of the Bulge. Johnson scored his last victory in September 1944, but he continued to fly combat missions to the last day of the war.

"Johnie" Johnson flew many of the Spitfire models. His favorite was the beautiful Mark IX.

Air Vice Marshal James Edgar "Johnnie" Johnson CB, CBE, DSO & Two Bars, DFC & Bar (9 March 1915 – 30 January 2001) as a Royal Air Force (RAF) pilot during the Second World War, claimed 34 victories over enemy aircraft, as well as seven shared victories, three shared probables, ten damaged, three shared damaged and one destroyed on the ground. This score made him the highest scoring Western Allied fighter ace against the German Luftwaffe, thus becoming the British, and Western Allied flying ace, with the greatest number of victories in the European War.


Many pilots from the British Empire joined the RAF the British aces were

38  Group Captain J.E. Johnson United Kingdom
29  Wing Commander J.R.D. Graham United Kingdom
29  Wing Commander R.R.S. Tuck United Kingdom
28  Squadron Leader J.H. Lacey United Kingdom
26  Flight Lieutenant E.S. Lock United Kingdom
24.5 Wing Commander B. Drake United Kingdom
24  Squadron Leader W. Vale United Kingdom
23  Flight Lieutenant G. Allard United Kingdom
22.5 Wing Commander D.R.S. Bader United Kingdom


Top British Aces             Kills    Comment
James "Johnnie" Johnson   38,     top WWII British ace, flew Spitfires
Brendon E. Finucane         32,     Irish, 65 Sqn, later KIA
Robert Braham                  29,     POW June '44, 3DSO, 3DSC
Robert Stanford Tuck        29,     2+ years as POW, 92 & 257 Sqns
F. R. Carey                      28,     43 Sqn
J. H. "Ginger" Lacey         28,     Hawker Hurricane pilot, 501 Sqn
Neville. F. Duke                28,     
E. G. Lock                       25,     
B. Drake                          24.5    213 Sqn
G. Allard                          23.8    85 Sqn, KIA
Douglas Bader                 22.5    

Only Marmaduke Pattle claimed more victories overall than any other Western Allied pilot in Europe, but over half of his claims were made against the Italian Regia Aeronautica (Italian Royal Air Force) and a significant number of his claims cannot be verified.

Only one Allied pilot, Richard Bong of the United States Army Air Forces, who shot down 40 Japanese planes. had greater success during the war. The leading American air ace in Europe, Francis Gabreski, shot down 28 German planes.

















His courageous leadership and daring exploits as a fighter-pilot who flew a record 700 combat missions in his Spitfire during the 1939 -45 war earned him not only a cockpit full of medals, but the respect, admiration and friendship of other `national heroes’ like Sir Winston Churchill, President Eisenhower, and former mentor, colleague, and fellow flying ace, Douglas Bader, who became a life-long friend. After the war Johnnie became a Trustee of the Douglas Bader Foundation. Later Bader wrote the Foreword to Johnnie's autobiography - “Dear Johnnie, I did not know that you could read or write!”

In 1966, "Johnie" Johnson founded and was Chief Executive of the "Johnnie Johnson Housing Trust" that has provided homes for more than 4,000 disabled and elderly persons.

He was appointed a Deputy Lord Lieutenant for the County of Leicestershire in 1967.

During a Wartime Pilots Reunion in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada in 1980. "Johnnie" Johnson had developed a strong relationship with his Canadian pilots and this relationship continued long after the war. Johnnie’s exploits with his Canadian Spitfire Wings are still highly regarded in Canada.


























In 1988. "Johnnie" Johnson was presenter Eamon Andrews’ "victim" in a special VE Day television tribute on the programme "This Is Your Life".  War time colleagues told stories of Johnnie’s courageous flying exploits, and also revealing that in between combat missions he indulged his second lifelong passion - for fishing!  He fished all over the world, from the Indian Ocean to the snow-melt rivers of the Canadian Rockies, and the "Gone Fishing" notice hanging from his Spitfire brought some welcome light relief to his Squadron!

One of the men from his squadron wrote: "He was a hard man, a very tough man, but a very good leader. He was trusted and he looked after his people. But he was intolerant if a man did not come up to scratch. There were some pilots who had to overcome a great deal of fear; but Johnnie did not seem to suffer like that. It was somehow easier for him."

"He was certainly tough - and demanding, both on and off duty - but then you had to be. I was fond of him, although he wasn't always easy. And I wished I had been tough like him."

Johnnie continued to write and several more books were published, perhaps the most notable being "Glorious Summer"  (1990) – and despite his work with the Trust he found the time to be a member of Wormhill Parish Council for twelve years, and was also President of the now defunct Tideswell British Legion.

Johnnie retired from active work with the Trust on his 75th birthday and spent the remaining years of his life visiting friends and family in South Africa, America and Canada, where Michael, the elder of his two sons lives and works. The younger of the two, ex-paratrooper Chris, lives in Cambridge and is currently Chairman of the Trust

His marriage, to Pauline Ingate in 1942, had been amicably dissolved in 1977. For a while "Johnnie" lived in Jersey, but he returned to Buxton, Derbyshire.


























He had lived in Derbyshire, England for many years and where he enjoyed his fishing at the Ladybower Reservoir as often as he could get away.


























Air Vice-Marshal James Edgar (Johnnie) Johnson, CB, CBE, DSO and two Bars, DFC and Bar, passed away on January 30, 2001 at the age of 85, in Derbyshire, England. after his final battle with cancer.




















The ashes of "Johnnie" Johnson were scattered on the River Wye near his favourite fishing spot.

"Johnie" Johnson was also survived by his two sons, Michael, who lives in Canada and Christopher, who lives in Cambridge.








































A Service of Thanksgiving for the life of Air Vice-Marshal J.E. "Johnnie" Johnson was held on Wednesday April 25, 2001 at St. Clement Danes, Strand, London WC2. The Chief of the Air Staff was represented by Air Vice-Marshal H.G.Mackay, Air Officer Commanding and Commandant, RAF College, Cranwell and the Air Force Board by Air Vice-Marshal Peter Liddell. The Reverend David Mackenzie, Resident Chaplain, officiated. The lesson was read by Johnnie's son, Michael, and Colonel Kenneth W. Cordier, USAF, read "Empty Cockpit".

















A Special Church Service was also held at Waltham Parish Church on Saturday, June 16th  and an original "Battle of Britain" Spitfire piloted by "Shiny" Simmonds flew over the village as part of this salute to "Johnnie" Johnson.



















"Johnnie" Johnson revisiting the cockpit of a Spitfire in 1986.


"Johnnie" had published both in his own account and jointly, a number of books: among them were "Wing Leader" (1956), "The Story of Air Fighting" (1985), "Courage in the Skies" (1992) and "Winged Victory" (1995).

Johnnie’s wartime marriage had already ended in divorce when he met Janet Partridge, the widow of Captain.Guy Partridge, who was killed in a plane crash in 1971 when the tail fell off the Viscount he was flying.  Janet’s father had also been a pilot, and was killed when his Lancaster Bomber was shot down in a raid over Berlin in 1944. The couple met in 1975 when Johnnie was approached for help in Janet’s claim for compensation against British Airways.




















View of Wormhill from the Pennine Bridleway into Chee Dale showing the former railway bridge across the River Wye on the Monsal Trail..


Janet and Johnnie became inseperable companions, moving to Wormhill near Buxton in Johnnie’s adopted and beloved Derbyshire in 1977.  Janet Partridge was an elegant and charming lady who continued her work with the Trust.



















The River Wye at Cressbrook.


Janet said that in his final years Johnnie, who had grown to love this part of Derbyshire, enjoyed walking his dogs in the countryside and fishing the River Wye between Cressbrook and Ashford-in-the-Water.

She was standing in the lounge of the lovely home they shared together “for twenty-five gloriously happy years” and gazing up at the excellent portrait of Johnnie painted by artist Alan Holt, titled "The Lion in Winter".
















Johnnie Johnson's orders and decorations.


Janet expressed her hope that the famous medals would not go to a private collector, “but be purchased by a museum and put on permanent display for the nation”.



















"Johnnie" Johnson's favorite fishing place is on the land that belongs to The Duke of Devonshire. He has kindly given Janet permission to place a lasting tribute there beside the river in the form of a memorial seat. The inscription on the brass plaque reads simply, “J.E.J. – Fisherman”.
























"One of the secrets of air fighting was to see the other man first. Seeing airplanes from great distances was a question of experience and training, of knowing where to look and what to look for. Experienced pilots always saw more than the newcomers, because the later were more concerned with flying than fighting.... The novice had little idea of the situation, because his brain was bewildered by the shock and ferocity of the fight." — Air Vice-Marshal J. E. 'Johnnie' Johnson, RAF.

"The essence of leadership... was, and is, that every leader from flight commander to group commander should know and fly his airplanes." — Air Vice-Marshal J. E. 'Johnnie' Johnson, RAF.