Today I want to tell you about Johnny Smythe.
John Henry Clavell Smythe was born in 1915 in Freetown, Sierra Leone, which was then part of the British Empire. He was Sierra Leonean by nationality, but during the Second World War he fought for Britain as part of the Royal Air Force. Before the war, he went to Sierra Leone Grammar School and worked as a clerk.
When the Second World War started in 1939, Smythe joined a local defence force and then became one of the very few West Africans to serve as an officer in the RAF. In 1943, he was commissioned into the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve and became a navigation officer with 623 Squadron. He flew dangerous bombing missions over occupied Europe in the Short Stirling bomber.
On the 18th of November 1943, during only his fifth operation, his aircraft was shot down over Germany. He was wounded, captured, and then spent around 18 months as a prisoner of war in Stalag Luft I.
After the war, Smythe continued serving Britain and played a part in the Empire Windrush in 1948 by helping former servicemen from the Caribbean. He was awarded the Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1951. He also later received honours including the Order of St Lazarus and the Member of the Republic of Sierra Leone.
After leaving the RAF as a Flight Lieutenant, he retrained as a barrister. He returned to Sierra Leone and became a Queen’s Counsel, eventually serving as Attorney General of Sierra Leone.
Johnny Smythe died in 1996 in England at the age of 80 or 81.
No comments:
Post a Comment