The WW2 Diary of Lancaster Pilot Bruce Johnston

DIARY NOTES

Location
12 Operational Training Unit Chipping-Warden, near Banbury, northwest of London

GEE Homing - Used the GEE box to direct the plane towards a source of transmission

Tea - Light meal in late afternoon or evening

Dean - Johnston’s brother, stationed near Cambridge, north of London

Blueform - A blue coloured combination airmail letter and envelope, developed during the war specifically for use to or from military personnel based overseas

Eleanor - Steen, friend of Johnston in Canada

My Flight Officer - Achieving the rank of Flight Officer

Nickel - Code name for a graduation exercise at the end of training that involved flying over enemy territory and dropping leaflets

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

Scrubbed - Planned flight was cancelled

Cross country - Training flight across the countryside

March 2, 1944 (Thursday)

Up as usual this morning to fly – did my solo GEE homing. Took us four hours and twenty minutes altogether (the other boys on the same exercise took only three hours. I can’t understand it).

Didn’t get down till 3:30 then had to attend four p.m. briefing for tomorrow. Ate at 5:00. Had tea at 5:30, had dinner at 7:30. Made a regular hog of myself! Boy, I’m tired tonight!

Got a letter from Dean and a blueform from Eleanor – both congratulating me on my flight officer - rather strange sixty and thirty-five hundred miles away respectively.

Most of the boys in the barracks are off on a Nickel tonight. Campbell was scheduled for it, but they scrubbed him and sent him on a cross country instead.

Eleanor Steen

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