Hero ran away to fight at 14
Saving Private Ryan tragedy of D-Day para
A SCHOOLBOY who lied about his age and became the youngest paratrooper to take part in D-Day has been honoured.
Private Robert “Bobby” Johns was 14 when he ran away from home to join the war effort.
His distraught parents William and Daisy alerted the War Office but were unable to get him home before he was killed by a German sniper in Normandy.
Bobby’s niece Jenny Ward, 58, said:
“His story definitely had echoes of the film Saving Private Ryan.”
Bobby wanted to follow in the footsteps of his brothers William and Ron. Being a “big lad” for his age, he was able to pass for an 18-year-old and he began training with the South Lancashire Regiment.
He completed his jump course in January 1944 and in the early hours of June 6 – D-Day – he parachuted into Normandy with the 6th Airborne Division. He survived the invasion but was killed on July 23 – two days before his 17th birthday. William and Daisy did not know where he was for two years and found out only that month when he wrote to them from France. They had already faced the heartbreak of losing his brother William in 1940 when submarine HMS Narwhal was bombed. A plaque commemorating Bobby’s bravery and sacrifice will be installed on the street where he was born in Portsmouth, Hants, tomorrow. Ms Ward, of Christchurch, Dorset, said: “My grandfather kept his letter in his wallet until the day he died. I just wish they were here to witness the ceremony. They’d have been so proud.”
Brother William