William E. Johnson having made a phone call to his wife, embarked on HMS Orion in New York and headed for Glasgow. From their he went to Groxhill where he was given his P47 Thunderbolt ( Kitten ). He eventually finished up at Martlesham Heath in Suffolk as a member of the 360th Squadron of the 356th Fighter Group. He was billeted at Playford Hall, nearby. From that day in New York William wrote a journal, addressed to his Wife and totalled 32 pages. In this very moving document he talks about losing comrades, his feeling when he made his first of 5 kills and that the person he had killed was maybe some ones husband or father. he talks about how he might not come home and gradually prepares himself and his wife for that fact. H says that he had left a seed at home, his wife being pregnant with Rod. The suddenly it stops. William was hit by friendly fire as he was chasing a ME109 through a formation of USAAF bombers over France. A copy of this was made into a book with other photographs and documents, and Rod sent it to me. A special service was held in June this year in that town in France by the locals. Williams remains were repatriated in 1949 back to the US. Last night I present this book to Martyn Cook, Chairman of MHAS and it will have its own place in our control tower museum. The photo is of this presentation., by Tony G
