Bio / Text:
< =
expand >
Destined to be an ace, James Edgar "Johnnie" Johnson enjoyed shooting, rugby, and race car driving in his youth. His combat tour included participation in the Dieppe Raid, Combined Bomber Offensive, Battle of Normandy, Operation Market Garden and the Battle of the Bulge and the Western Allied invasion of Germany. Johnson progressed to the rank of Group Captain by the end of the war.
34 victories. CB, CBE, DSO & Two Bars, DFC & Bar.
Commanded 144 (Canadian) Wing based at RAF Kenley after Christmas and they received the new Spitfire IX: the answer to the Fw 190. Remained with the Canadians for two years. With 144, patrolled beaches of Normandy on D-Day and afterwards.
After the war Johnson commanded RAF Second Tactical Air Force at RAF Wildenrath in West Germany from 1952 to 1955. In 1956 he wrote his wartime memoir, Wing Leader and followed it up in 1964 with Full Circle, a history of air fighting, co-written with Percy "Laddie" Lucas, a former Member of Parliament and Douglas Bader's brother-in-law. Retired in 1966 from RAF as Air Vice Marshall.
He established the Johnnie Johnson Housing Trust in 1969 and by 2001 the housing association managed over 4,000 properties. (source: Wikipedia right link). Trust was for the elderly, the disabled, and, veterans.
For aircraft flown, we've sourced that from Wikipedia as they have a complete list of sortie victories, however, some serials (e.g. NH382) are not in our database, and, this was placed in the "marking" field instead. Also, not every sortie is captured in the list, only the distinct (once only) aircraft he flew.
