Cyril Alphonsus Bede Johnson RAFVR and crew – 576 Squadron - 1944
Cyril Johnson ( pictured above ) experienced a fascinating and varied RAF Career. He was born in Ormskirk Lancashire in 1920. He was always interested in flying and aircraft and the age of 19 before the war he tried to enlist in the RAF but was declined on medical grounds.
At the start of the war this application was reviewed and he was finally accepted for aircrew training and qualified as a pilot.
He was then posted to Takoradi, West Africa ferrying aircraft to Egypt and beyond. During his posting in Africa he contracted malaria which recurred periodically. On one of these ferry flights he crash landed a Bristol Blenheim on a beach in Pakistan and sustained a bad back injury which was far more serious than first thought and was to cause him considerable discomfort for many years. He returned to the UK on the RMS Mauritania via the Suez Canal and to San Francisco. Then from New York to the UK on a Belgian merchant ship.
Eventually he was transferred to Bomber Command and after completing the usual training courses was posted to 576 Squadron with his crew.
Cyril was one of the first intake to the new Squadron when they were formed at the end of 1943. At that time he held the rank of Flight Lieutenant and was destined for bigger things if he survived.
He completed the following operations :-
Second pilot on 01/01/1944 to Berlin in ND385 with W/O CC Rollins and crew.
He then took over his own crew and flew 3 more operations as follows :-
05/01/1944 – Stettin - Point of Aim – ED888 – F/L CAB Johnson – Sgt G B Valentine – F/O H Gerus – F/O W Woodfine – Sgt N H Morris – Sgt R W Owen – Sgt J P Duns
14/01/1944 – Brunswick - Point of Aim – ME583 – F/L CAB Johnson - Sgt G B Valentine – F/O H Gerus – F/O W Woodfine – Sgt E W Willett – Sgt R W Owen – Sgt J P Duns – Early return - Engine unserviceable- Bombed Texel.
30/01/1944 – Berlin - Point of Aim – ND402 – F/L CAB Johnson - Sgt G B Valentine – F/O H Gerus – F/O W Woodfine – P/O H T Shewan – Sgt P T Lalor – Sgt J P Duns.
After this operation Cyril Johnson collapsed and ended up in Rauceby Hospital where he was finally diagnosed with serious back issues and grounded. Many years later after years of pain and discomfort he finally consulted a surgeon regarding this problem. After examination and investigation it was confirmed he had fractured a sacral and lumber vertebrae which had healed but not in alignment. He was operated on by a neurosurgeon to alleviate this ongoing problem and, during the process, the surgeon found a small fragment of bone had lodged itself against his spinal chord and any severe jolt could have severed the nerve and left him paralysed.
…...........
His old crew were split up and, according to the 576 Squadron ORB, flew with various pilots during their time at 576. However it is quite possible the 576 Squadron ORB is not 100% on this sort of detail.
Sgt G B Valentine flew two ops with GAJ Wood and crew and then the remainder of his tour with SF Hordal and crew.
F/O H Gerus flew single ops with the Blackie, Rollins and Wearmouth crews and finished the rest of his tour with SF Hordal and crew
F/O W Woodfine flew the remainder of his tour with the Scheerboom crew
P/O H T Shewan ( pictured above ) does not seem to have flown again with 576 Squadron that year but reappears late in the war in the crew of F/O K Fry. By this time he held the rank of Flight Lieutenant.
Sgt N H Morris flew one op with the Brooke crew and another with the Collis crew and then appears to have left the Squadron.
Sgt R W Owen flew one more operation with the Hart crew and then appears to have left the Squadron.
Sgt P T Lalor flew one more operation with the Gipson crew but does not seem to appear again in the Squadron records.
Sgt J P Duns ( pictured above ) transferred to the crew of S/L Davison until that pilot completed his tour and then was lost with 103 Squadron, 6/7th June 1944 Vire, flying as rear gunner in the crew of F/L W H Way RCAF.
….........
Cyril then trained as an Intelligence Officer spending time at the secret code breaking and intelligence centre at Bletchley Park where he was privy to much highly classified material. At the end of WW2 he was posted to South East Asia and was responsible for the air transport retrieval of injured and sick Prisoners of War and replacing them with the captured Japanese.
In the immediate post war era Cyril married Elizabeth and qualified as a civil engineer. In 1959 they emigrated to Australia with their children where they had family connections and enjoyed a long and happy life in their new home.
Item compiled by David Fell with reference to Kate Johnson's book about her grandfather. Pictures from my Archive
....................
|
