The last surviving original member of the famous 617 squadron otherwise known as the Dam Busters.
George Leonard “Johnny” Johnson MBE DFC who died on the 7th of December aged 101 was born in Lincolnshire on the 25th of November 1921 and joined the Royal Air Force in 1940, he was selected in 1943 to join the 'Dam Busters' and to take part in Operation Chastise at 22 years of age.
Johnny was the bomb aimer on T Tommy, the pilot was the American Joe McArthy who had volunteered to join the Royal Canadian Air Force, and the Squadron was under the command of Wing Commander Guy Gibson.
The Squadron was the first to deploy the bouncing bomb which was the brainchild of the talented engineer Barnes Wallis who was born in Ripley Derbyshire. The aircraft needed to fly exceptionally low at night and practised over the Derwent Dams in Derbyshire.
Following his retirement from the RAF in 1962 having attained the rank of Squadron Leader he moved to Torquay with his wife Gwyn and became a teacher as well as a local councillor.
To celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the Royal Air Force, the 100th Anniversary of the end of World War One and the 75th Anniversary of the Dam Buster’s Raid in 2018, Derbyshire Freemasons were honoured to receive him at a very special meeting held at the Grange in Littleover where he made generous presentations to Derbyshire Air Cadets on behalf of Derbyshire Freemasons.
He was accompanied into a packed meeting room by the Provincial Grand Master for Derbyshire Steven Varley supported by a team of Provincial Officers to the Dam Busters March – the atmosphere was electric.
He made time to talk to everyone and was a quiet and humble man with a wonderful sense of humour. In a short but entertaining speech, Johnny Johnson paid tribute to those he flew with and told the cadets that “they were the RAF’s future, and that the future was looking to be in good hands”
Steven Varley paid tribute to Squadron Leader Johnson:
'With the passing of Johnny Johnson Derbyshire Freemasons have lost a much loved friend who had visited us in 2018 and supported our initiative to help every air cadet squadron in Derbyshire. I was proud to meet Johnny who was an inspiration to us all. His warm and generous spirit and his modest demeanour was remarkable. We will soon be dedicating one of our rooms here at the Grange as the Merlin room where the famous Rolls Royce Merlin engine was developed – the same engine which powered the Lancaster Bomber Johnny flew in'
