The WW2 Diary of Lancaster Pilot Bruce Johnston

DIARY NOTES

Location
RAF Bomber Command, 115 Squadron at Witchford, near Ely

Beach head - Coastal area of France re-taken from the Germans and secured by the Allied troops

Woodbridge - One of three RAF bases specifically designed to accept damaged or fuel-short bombers returning from raids over Germany

Mepal - Home base of 75 Squadron

Waterbeach - Home base of 514 Squadron, near Cambridge

Campbell, Red - Canadian pilot and friend who trained with Johnston, and was later posted to 514 Squadron at Waterbeach. The story of this final mission appears at the end of the “Colleagues” section.

Went for a Burton - Was killed on a mission. Burton was a popular beer in wartime Britain, and at the time, had an advertising campaign showing different incomplete jobs, with no one working on them – for example, a partially painted wall, with a ladder, paint can and brush, and no painter. The caption read: “Went for a Burton”. Airmen used this term to describe crews that had gone on a mission and not returned.

Stuttgart - German city near the French border

Giffin - Canadian pilot and friend who trained with Johnston, and was later posted to 514 Squadron at Waterbeach

Second dickey - A second pilot, often accompanying an experienced crew on a mission to see how they worked together, before starting operations with his own crew

Foulke - Pilot and friend who trained with Johnston, and was later posted to 514 Squadron at Waterbeach

All my friends going - This is not surprising as for every 100 airmen in Bomber Command:
- 51 were killed in action
- 9 were killed in crashes over England
- 3 were seriously injured on operations
- 12 became prisoners of war
- 1 was shot down and evaded capture
- 24 survived unharmed

Barbara - Johnston’s girlfriend in Ontario

July 30, 1944 (Sunday)

Boys were out early this morning to the beach head – shaky do apparently. Low cloud and poor visibility apparently – they bombed from 1,500 feet.

On return they were diverted to Woodbridge and as Mepal and Waterbeach were there too I found out when the boys came back that Red Campbell went for Burton in the last Stuttgart and he had Giffin as second dickey (he was scheduled for someone else but went with Red because he knew him).

Then Foulke went on the same one – all my friends going.

Nothing doing today. Wrote to Barbara.

Bob Giffin’s grave at St. Cloud-en-Dunois Communal Cemetary in France

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