THE POLICEMAN’S SON WHO BECAME OUR TOP WWII ACE

The Spitfire was a great leveller, with no respect for rank or background. Its greatest pilots were drawn from every walk of life, not merely the public school system and Oxbridge.

The official highest-scoring British ace of the war was James ‘Johnnie’ Johnson, a policeman’s son from Loughborough who had risen to the giddy heights of a council assistant surveyor before the beginning of the war.

His application for pilot training was twice rejected before he was accepted into the RAF’s Volunteer Reserve. By the time he was airborne, the Battle of Britain was almost over. During 1941, however, his skills were spotted by the fabled Douglas Bader, who invited him to join his section.

He accumulated kills and decorations in equal measure, helping the RAF to overcome a deadly new threat to the Spitfire, the Focke-Wulf 190. Along the way, he was generous with his scores, often sharing a ‘kill’ to help boost the confidence of a fellow pilot.

He forged a particular bond with the Royal Canadian Air Force, with whom he went into action on D-Day (later flying extra missions to take beer to the troops in Normandy). He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order three times, the Distinguished Flying Cross twice and ended the war with at least 38 ‘kills’ to his name.

Johnnie Johnson with his labrador Sally on his Spitfire in Normandy, 1944...

... and Johnnie re-creating the shot in 2000, aged 85