The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (411916) Flying Officer James Gilbert Johnson, No. 91 Squadron, Royal Air Force, Second World War.

The Last Post Ceremony is presented in the Commemorative area of the Australian War Memorial each day. The ceremony commemorates more than 102,000 Australians who have given their lives in war and other operations and whose names are recorded on the Roll of Honour. At each ceremony the story behind one of the names on the Roll of Honour is told. Hosted by Richard Cruise, the story for this day was on (411916) Flying Officer James Gilbert Johnson, No. 91 Squadron, Royal Air Force, Second World War.

411916 Flying Officer James Gilbert Johnson, No. 91 Squadron, Royal Air Force.
KIA 8 March 1943
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 6 June 2016

Today we pay tribute to Flying Officer James Gilbert Johnson, who was killed on active service during the Second World War.

Born in the Sydney suburb of Balmain on 28 March 1921, James Johnson was the son of James Emil Johnson and Caroline Johnson. He worked as a farm hand and shop assistant for W.W. Campbell & Co. in Clarence Street, Sydney.

Johnson enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force on 21 June 1941, aged 20, and commenced training as a pilot. He embarked for overseas service in November 1941, and as part of the Empire Air Training Scheme was one of almost 27,500 RAAF pilots, navigators, wireless operators, gunners, and engineers who joined squadrons based in Britain throughout the course of the war.

Johnson arrived in San Francisco and undertook further specialist training in Canada before travelling on to Britain in May 1942. Following further training he was posted to No. 91 Squadron, Royal Air Force, which was equipped with Spitfires.

On the morning of 8 March 1943 Johnson’s Spitfire took off on a shipping reconnaissance patrol from RAF Base Hawkins in Kent. The last plotted position of the Spitfire was north of Ostend on the Belgian coast. However, nothing further was heard from Johnson, who failed to return to base. Speculation was that he had fallen victim to an attack by an enemy aircraft.

Flying Officer Johnson was 21 years old. His body was never recovered, and his name is commemorated upon the Air Forces Memorial overlooking the River Thames. The Runnymede memorial lists all British and Commonwealth airmen with no known grave.

Johnson’s name is listed here on the Roll of Honour on my left, among some 40,000 Australians who died while serving in the Second World War.

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Flying Officer James Gilbert Johnson, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Dr Lachlan Grant
Historian, Military History Section