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Johnston, James Faulkner (Flight Sergeant)

Prisoner of War 1943-October-22

Birth Date: unkown date (age unknown)

Service
RAF
Unit
429 (B) Sqn- Squadron
Fortunae Nihil Nothing to chance
Base
Leeming
Rank
Flight Sergeant
Marshal
Air Chief MarshalA/C/M
Air MarshalA/M
Air Vice MarshalA/V/M
Air CommodoreA/C
Group CaptainG/C
Wing CommanderW/C
Squadron LeaderS/L
Flight LieutenantF/L
Flying OfficerF/O
Pilot OfficerP/O
Warrant Officer 1st ClassWO1
Warrant Officer 2nd ClassWO2
Flight SergeantFS
SergeantSGT
CorporalCPL
Senior AircraftmanSAC
Leading AircraftmanLAC
Aircraftman 1st ClassAC1
Aircraftman 2nd ClassAC2
Position
Bomb Aimer
Service Numbers
1483501
PoW: 261213

Halifax B/GR.Mk.II JD332

Bombing 1943-October-22 to 1943-October-22

(B) Sqn (RCAF) Leeming

QUESTIONNAIRE FOR RETURNED AIRCREW

Loss of bomber aircraft

NUMBER. 1483501 RANK. F/Sgt NAME. Johnston J. F. SQUADRON. 429 AIRCRAFT. JD-332 AL-U TYPE OF AIRCRAFT. Halifax II DATE OF LOSS. 22/23.10.43 TARGET. Kassel HOW MANY OPS. 20 DUTY. Bomb aimer DATE OF INTERROGATION. 31.5.45 INFORMATION EXTRACTED FROM. POW report

NARRATIVE OF EVENTS FROM TAKEOFF TO LANDING.

We had a very quite trip until the target was reached. Visibility was good and there was no moon. Going in on the run up, our starboard inner was hit but it did not effect the aircrafts performance. We bombed at approximately 2155 hours and set course for home. The flak was light but there were large numbers of fighter flares and fighters about. An ME-110 came in to the attack from the port quarter underneath. The rear gunner opened up and hits were observed. The fighter broke off the attack without firing but came in some minutes later from the starboard quarter underneath. We corkscrewed into him but he opened up and scored hits all along the aircraft. The cowling was shot from the starboard inner. The aircraft went into almost a vertical dive and I believed the elevator controls were damaged. The intercom and signalling lights were unserviceable, so by hand signals and signs we baled out. Action had to be taken immediately because the aircraft was going down very fast and rolling over to port. I do not remember anything until I hit the ground. I cannot remember the time of take off. The engineer informed me afterwards that the pilot was slumped in his seat and the stick was held back. He also informed me that the instrument panel was hit.

FS JF Johnston (RAF) survived and was taken as Prisoner of War

PoW picture Flight Sergeant Johnston

James Faulkner Johnston from Ballygawley, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland.

James was a Flight Sergeant serving with 429 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force. On the night of 22nd / 23rd October 1943 he was aboard Halifax JD332 which had taken off from RAF Leeming on a mission to Kassel however the aircraft was attacked and shot down near Tietelsen to the north of Kassel. Of the crew of seven there were three survivors including James Johnston who was captured and taken to Stalag 4B at Muhlberg

.

A number of Airmen had planned a Mass Escape and intended to burn the hut which held all the P.O.W. Records and Photographs. This was so that the Germans would not have pictures of them when they escaped however James wanted to be sure and so the night previous he stole his own file!! - From which we can see his picture!

James was able to escape the Camp and after evading capture he eventually joined with a mounted unit, possibly Cossacks, and was finally able to return to the U.K.

Target
Google MapKassel Germany

Halifax JD332

Handley Page Halifax

(RAF Photo, 1942)(Source Harold A Skaarup Web Page)A Royal Air Force Handley Page Halifax Mk. II Series I (Serial No. W7676), coded TL-P, of No. 35 Squadron, RAF, based at Linton-on-Ouse, Yorkshire in the UK, being piloted by Flight Lieutenant Reginald Lane, (later Lieutenant-General, RCAF), over the English countryside. Flt Lt Lane and his crew flew twelve operations in W7676, which failed to return from a raid on Nuremberg on the night of 28/29 August 1942, when it was being flown by Flt Sgt D. John and crew.

The Handley Page Halifax is a British Royal Air Force (RAF) four-engined heavy bomber of the Second World War. It was developed by Handley Page to the same specification as the contemporary twin-engine Avro Manchester.

The Halifax has its origins in the twin-engine HP56 proposal of the late 1930s, produced in response to the British Air Ministry's Specification P.13/36 for a capable medium bomber for "world-wide use." The HP56 was ordered as a backup to the Avro 679, both aircraft being designed to use the underperforming Rolls-Royce Vulture engine. The Handley Page design was altered at the Ministry to a four-engine arrangement powered by the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine; the rival Avro 679 was produced as the twin-engine Avro Manchester which, while regarded as unsuccessful mainly due to the Vulture engine, was a direct predecessor of the famed Avro Lancaster. Both the Lancaster and the Halifax would emerge as capable four-engined strategic bombers, thousands of which would be built and operated by the RAF and several other services during the War.

On 25 October 1939, the Halifax performed its maiden flight, and it entered service with the RAF on 13 November 1940. It quickly became a major component of Bomber Command, performing routine strategic bombing missions against the Axis Powers, many of them at night. Arthur Harris, the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Bomber Command, described the Halifax as inferior to the rival Lancaster (in part due to its smaller payload) though this opinion was not shared by many of the crews that flew it, particularly for the MkIII variant. Nevertheless, production of the Halifax continued until April 1945. During their service with Bomber Command, Halifaxes flew a total of 82,773 operations and dropped 224,207 tons of bombs, while 1,833 aircraft were lost. The Halifax was also flown in large numbers by other Allied and Commonwealth nations, such as the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), Free French Air Force and Polish forces. Wikipedia

YouTube Halifax Heavy Bomber WWII

General Harold A Skaarup Web Page

Wkikpedia Wikipedia Halifax Bomber

Museum National Air Force Museum of Canada

last update: 2023-12-08 20:34:11

Halifax B/GR.Mk.II JD332

EQ@E;AL@U With No. 408 (B) Squadron, RCAF, coded "EQ*E". Operated by No. 429 Squadron, RCAF, coded "AL*U" when lost. Failed to return from attack on Kassel on 22 / 23 October 1943. $ crew killed, 3 PoW.
Units 408/429

1943-10-23 Failed to Return Failed to return from attack on Kassel. 2019-08-20

429 (B) Sqn Fortunae Nihil ("Bison")

History of the Squadron during World War II (Aircraft: Wellington III, X, Halifax II, V, III, Lancaster I, III)

No 429 Squadron was the 10th bomber unit and 27th squadron formed by the RCAF overseas in WWII. It was formed in November 1942 at East Moor, Yorkshire, UK as part of No 4 Group of RAF Bomber Command. On April 1, 1943 it became part of No 6 (RCAF) Group at No 62 (RCAF) Base, still remaining at East Moor until August 1943, when it moved to Leeming, Yorkshire as part of no 63 (RCAF) Base: it remained at Leeming until its disbandment in May 1946. It undertook strategic and tactical bombing operations. After the cessation of hostilities in Europe, it remained in England and transferred to No 1 Group, where it was engaged in transporting troops from Italy (Operation DODGE).

The squadron, with squadron code AL, flew Vickers Wellington Mks III and X until August 1943, when it re-equipped with Handley-Page Halifax Mk II, which it flew between August 1943 and January 1944, and Mk V between November 1943 and March 1944. These were superseded by Halifax Mk III aircraft in March 1944. In March 1945, the squadron re-equipped with Lancaster Mk I and III. In summary of its activities, it flew 3221 sorties, including airlifting 1055 PoWs back to England, for the loss of 71 aircraft. 9356 tons of bombs were dropped. The squadron was awarded45 DFCs and 2 Bars to DFC, 1 AFC, 1 CGM and 7 DFMs. Battle Honours were: English Channel and North Sea 1943-45, Baltic 1943-45, Fortress Europe 1943-44, France and Germany 1944-45, Biscay Ports 1943-44, Ruhr 1943-45, Berlin 1943-44, German Ports 1943-45, Normandy 1944, Rhine, Biscay 1943-44. Wikipedia,Moyes, Kostenuk and Griffin

Squadron History (Bomber Command Museum PDF)

Maps for Movements of 429 Squadron 1942-46

MAP 1: 429 Squadron Bases 1942-46 (marked in green). Right-click on image to display enlarged in new tab

429 Squadron History Summary 1942-46

History of the Squadron Post-WWII (Aircraft: Buffalo, Hercules, Globemaster)

The squadron was reactivated at St. Hubert, Quebec on 21 August 1967 as a Tactical Transport Unit. It flew de Havilland CC-15 Buffalo aircraft for the Canadian Forces Mobile Command and was integrated into the Canadian Armed Forces on 1 February 1968. In August 1981 it was renamed 429 Transport Squadron and moved to CFB Winnipeg . The final move was in 1990 to 8 Wing in Trenton, Ontario . The squadron was disbanded in 2005.

Two years later in August 2007, 429 Squadron was again re-activated, this time operating the CC-177 Globemaster III strategic transport aircraft. It used these new aircraft in support of Canada's operations in Afghanistan.

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