Both attacked the bomber and lost sight of it and each other. Although the controllers intercepted distress signals from the bomber Johnson did not see it crash. They were credited with one enemy aircraft damaged. It was the only time Johnson was to engage a German bomber. By the end of January, Johnson had added another In the opening months, Johnson flew as a night fighter pilot.
Using day fighters to act as night fighters without radar was largely unsuccessful in intercepting German bombers during The Blitz ; Johnson's only action occurred on 22 February when he damaged a Messerschmitt Bf in Spitfire R, QJ-F. If the Germans did not resume their assault the Wing was to take the fight to them. It ordered hit-and-run operations over Belgium and France. The operations were to be conducted by three squadrons to harass German air defences.
On 10 January Circus attacks were initiated by sending small bomber formations protected by large numbers of fighters. The escalation of offensive operations throughout was designed to draw up the Luftwaffe as Douglas' Command took an increasingly offensive stance. These operations became known as the Circus offensive. Leigh-Mallory outlined six distinct operations for day fighters: Ramrod bomber escort with primary goal the destruction of the target ; Fighter Ramrod The same goal where fighters escorted ground-attack fighters ; Roadstead Bomber escort and anti-shipping operations ; Fighter Roadstead the same operation as Roadstead but without bombers along with Rhubarb poor weather ground attack operation and Circus operations see glossary.
Johnson's first contact with enemy single-engine fighters did not go as planned. Bader undertook a patrol with Dundas as his number two. Johnson followed in his section as number three with "Nip" Nepple guarding his tail as Red Four. Johnson spotted three Bf s a few hundred feet higher and travelling in the same direction. Johnson, forgetting to calmly report the number, type and position of the enemy, shouted, "Look out Dogsbody! Such a call was only to be used if the pilot in question was in imminent danger of being "bounced".
The Section broke in all directions and headed to Tangmere singly. The mistake brought an embarrassing rebuke from Bader at the debriefing. Johnson flew various operations over France including the Rhubarb ground attack missions which Johnson hated—he considered it a waste of pilots. Several successful fighter pilots had been lost this way. Squadron leader Robert Stanford Tuck would be captured carrying out a similar operation in January During this time, Dundas and other pilots also expressed dissatisfaction with the formation tactics being used in the wing.
After a long conversation into the early hours, Bader accepted the suggestions by his senior pilots and agreed to the use of more flexible tactics to lessen the chances of being taken by surprise, or "bounced".
Spitfire Ace of Aces: The Wartime Story of Johnnie Johnson
The tactical changes involved operating overlapping line abreast formations similar to the German Finger-four formation. The tactics were used thereafter by RAF pilots in the Wing. The first use of these tactics by the Tangmere Wing was used on 6 May Noticing the approaching Germans below and behind them, the Spitfires feigned ignorance.
Waiting for the optimum moment to turn the tables, Bader called for them to break, and whip around behind the Bf s. Unfortunately, while the tactic had been successful in avoiding a surprise attack, the break was mistimed. It left some Bf s still behind the Spitfires. Dundas was able to nurse his crippled fighter back to base and crash-land.
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One month later, Johnson gained his first air victory. On 26 June Johnson participated in Circus Crossing the coast near Gravelines, Bader warned of 24 Bf s nearby, southeast, in front of the Wing. The Bf s saw the British and turned to attack the lower No. While watching three Bf s above him dive to port, Johnson lost sight of his wing commander at 15, feet. Immediately a Bf E flew in front of him and turned slightly to port at a range of yards.
After receiving hits, the Bf 's hood was jettisoned and the pilot baled out. He had expended rounds from P's guns. The Bf was one of five lost by Jagdgeschwader 2 Fighter Wing 2 that day. A flurry of action followed. On 1 July he expended 89 rounds and damaged a Bf E. Bader's section was attacked and Johnson out-turned his assailant.
Firing, he saw glycol streaming behind it. Losing sight of the squadron, Johnson and his wingman proceeded inland at 3, feet after spotting three aircraft. Turning in behind them, he identified them as Bf Fs. Johnson dived so as to come up and underneath into the enemy's blind spot.
Closing to 15 yards, he gave the trailing Bf a two-second burst. The tail was blown off and his windshield was covered in oil from the Messerschmitt.
Johnson saw the other Bf s spinning down out of control. Having also lost his wingman, Johnson disengaged. Climbing and crossing the coast at Etaples, Johnson bounced a Bf E. Giving chase in a dive to 2, feet and firing at yards, he observed something flying off the Bf 's starboard wing. Johnson could not see any more owing to the oil-covered windscreen and did not make a claim. His second victory was probably Unteroffizier Corporal R. Johnson's wingman disappeared during the battle. Sergeant Mabbet was mortally wounded but made a wheels-up landing near St Omer.
Impressed with his skilful flying while badly wounded, the Germans buried him with full honours. On 23 July, Johnson damaged another Bf During this battle Adolf Galland , Geschwaderkommodore Wing Commander of JG 26 was wounded; his life was saved by a recently installed armour plate behind his head. Johnson took part in the 9 August mission in which Bader was lost over France. On that day Douglas Bader had been without his usual wingman Sir Alan Smith who was unable to fly due to having a head cold.
During the sortie, Johnson destroyed a solitary Messerschmitt Bf As the Wing crossed the coast, around 70 Bf s were reported in the area, the Luftwaffe aircraft outnumbering Bader's Wing by 3: Spotting a group of Bf s 1, feet below them, Bader led a bounce on a lower group. The formations fell apart and the air battle became a mass of twisting aircraft;.
Johnnie Johnson – Wikipedia, wolna encyklopedia
It seemed to me the biggest danger was a collision rather than being shot down, that's how close we all were. We got the s we were bouncing then Squadron Leader Holden came down with his section, so there were a lot of aeroplanes Johnson exited the mass of aircraft and was immediately attacked by three Bf s. The closest was yards away. Maintaining a steep, tight, spiralling turn, he dived into cloud and immediately headed for Dover. Coming out of the cloud, Johnson saw a lone Bf Suspecting it to be one of the three that had chased him, he searched for the other two.
Seeing nothing, Johnson attacked and shot it down. It was his fourth victory. But it had been a bad day and month for the Wing. The much loathed Circus and Rhubarb raids had cost Fighter Command fighters. The Germans lost just Johnson's last certain victories of the year were achieved on 21 September Escorting Bristol Blenheims to Gosnay, the top cover wings failed to rendezvous with the bombers.
Near Le Touquet at Johnson broke and turned in and behind a Bf F. Approaching from a quarter astern and slightly below, Johnson fired closing from to 70 yards.
Pilot Officer Smith of Johnson's section observed the pilot bail out. Pursued by several enemy aircraft, Johnson dived to ground level. About 10 miles off Le Touquet, other Bf s attacked. Allowing the Germans to close within range, Johnson turned into a steep left-hand turn. It took him onto the tail of a Bf Johnson fired and broke away at 50 yards. The Bf was hit, stalled and crashed into the sea.
Johnson was pursued until 10 miles south of Dover. The two victories made Johnson's total to six destroyed, which now meant he was an official flying ace. In winter , Johnson and Squadron moved to training duties. The odd convoy patrol was flown but it was an idle period for the Squadron which had now concluded its "Tangmere tour". After an uneventful few months, RAF Fighter Command resumed its offensive policy in April when the weather cleared for large-scale operations.
Johnnie flew seven sweeps that month. But the situation had now changed. It was faster at all altitudes below 25, feet, possessed a faster roll rate, was more heavily armed and could out-dive and out-climb the Spitfire. Only in the turn could the Spitfire outperform the Fw The introduction of this new enemy fighter resulted in heavier casualty rates among the Spitfire squadrons until a new mark of Spitfire could be produced.
Johnson claimed a damaged Fw on 15 April but he witnessed the Fw s get the better of the British pilots consistently throughout most of Yes, the was causing us real problems at this time. We could out-turn it, but you couldn't turn all day. As the number of s increased, so the depth of our penetrations deceased. They drove us back to the coast really. On 25 May, Johnson experienced an unusual mission. His section engaged a Dornier Do carrying British markings, four miles west of his base. Johnson allowed the three inexperienced pilots to attack it, but they only managed to damage the bomber.
More welcome news was received late in the month as the first Spitfire Mk. IXs began reaching RAF units.
On 10 July , Johnson was promoted to the rank of squadron leader , effective as of the 13 July, and given command of Squadron. In "rhubarb" operations over France, Johnson's wing commander, Patrick Jameson , insisted that the line-astern formation be used which caused Johnson to question why tactics such as the finger-four had not been universally adopted. Johnson criticised the lack of tactical consistency and when his squadron flew top cover, he often changed to the finger-four as soon as they reached the French coast, hoping his wing leader would not notice.
By August , preparations were begun for a major operation, Jubilee , at Dieppe. The Dieppe raid took place on 19 August Johnson took off at Running into around 50 Bf s and Fw s in fours, pairs and singly. In a climbing attack Johnson shot down one Fw which crashed into the sea and shared in the destruction of a Bf F. While heading back to base, Johnson attacked an alert Fw which met his attack head on. The dogfight descended from 8, to zero feet. Flying over Dieppe, Johnson dived towards a destroyer in the hope its fire would drive off the Fw , now on his tail. Open Preview See a Problem?
Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. Spitfire Ace of Aces: Johnnie Johnson is a character literally straight out of the pages of 'Boys Own'. Although he missed the Battle of Britain when slow flying bombers were abundant and easy targets for fighters by he had notched up 38 enemy 'kills' - all fighters which took far more skill to shoot down - and officially the RAF's top-scoring fighter ace.
One of his most impressive achievements was that despite over combat missions, he was never shot down. His Spitfire was damaged once and on his return to base he apologised to his fitter saying 'I was surrounded by six of them'.
Aviation historian Dilip Sarkar spent many hours with Johnson in the final years of the great man's life, recording the last interviews Johnson would ever gave. The book is infused with breath-taking first hand accounts from Johnnie himself and many of his fellow Spitfire pilots also interviewed by the author and profusely illustrated with photographs from Johnson's personal albums.
The Kindle Edition contains illustrations Kindle Edition , pages. Published May 30th by Amberley Publishing first published July 15th To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about Spitfire Ace of Aces , please sign up. Lists with This Book. Visit our Beautiful Books page and find lovely books for kids, photography lovers and more.
Review quote Sarkar has interviewed veteran pilots over the years and has drawn upon letters, diaries and family memories About Dilip Sarkar Dilip Sarkar has been fascinated by the Battle of Britain since childhood, he remains both moved and inspired by the story of Churchill's fabled Few, those young airmen who stood between freedom and a Britain dominated by Nazi Germany. Since the s he has met and interviewed more Battle of Britain pilots than any other historian.
He has researched the subject thoroughly and has published over thirty books, titles which include the only biographical works formally endorsed by the families of both Group Captain Sir Douglas Bader and Air Vice-Marshal Johnnie Johnson. He lives in Worcester. For more information please see www. Book ratings by Goodreads.