Every week Kevin publishes his own “Kev’s Column” online, this week he takes a look at the campaign to Knight the last surviving Dambuster Leonard George “Johnny” Johnson.
It was nearly 20 years ago that I first met “Johnny” Johnson at his then home in Torquay and he epitomises what being a Knight really means.
At the time I was a Sixth Form Student doing a research project on the Dambusters Raid as part of my ‘A’ Level History Course. As part of this, with the support of the 617 Squadron Association, I sent a questionnaire to all surviving Dambusters. Many replied with their comments, but out of the blue came a phone call from Johnny Johnson. He lived nearby and was happy to meet me.
I meet Johnny at his home and I still have the tape recording of the interview I did that day for my project. In our conversation Johnny talked about the rigid secrecy that surrounded the training, the flight to and from the Dams, then reading about the results in the papers afterwards.
The Dambusters acquired an almost mythical status due to the bravery they had shown before, during and after the raid in which they struck at targets previously thought impregnable. This status was confirmed by the iconic 1955 film in which people who Johnny had fought with were played by some of the most famous actors of the day.
The story of the Dambusters starts with the determination of one inventor, Barnes Wallis, to solve a problem that had perplexed others. He started experimenting with skipping marbles over water tanks in his garden. These experiments ultimately lead to the Bouncing Bomb that the Dambusters used to destroy the Mohne and Eder Dams. The solutions then found to drop the bouncing bomb at the right height and distance from their targets showed similar ingenuity.
Yet there is another element to the story, 53 of Johnny’s comrades had not returned from the famous raid and others who survived did not live to see the end of the war. The Commander of 617 Squadron Wing Commander Guy Gibson lost his life over Holland in September 1944.
Those who flew on the raid were all experienced pilots having already faced danger many times. They were the elite of Bomber Command, a force that for much of the war was the only method Britain had of striking at Germany directly. The Raid happening at a time when the war was decisively turning in the allies favour after Germany had suffered a catastrophic defeat at Stalingrad.
Meeting Johnny Johnson was a great privilege and one many in the bay will have shared given the years he lived here in his retirement. Those who have met him will know he is as modest in person as he was brave in action. In essence he is a true Knight and deserves to be recognised as such, hence why I support the campaign for him to become a “Sir” and have signed the petition.
We can debate the impact of the raids launched on Germany during the war, but the courage of those who did their bit still shines through to this day. 55,000 of those who served in Bomber Command did not return. The last survivors are now in their 90s. Knighting the last Dambuster, who lived to tell the tale of them that did not grow old, would be fitting recognition for men who still have no campaign medal to wear.
The only problem with this campaign is that after decades of knowing him as “Johnny” we would all have to get used to him being “Sir George Leonard “, his actual Christian names.
You can sign the online petition supporting a Knighthood for George Leonard “Johnny” Johnson, the last Dambuster, by clicking this link.