John Webster
Mechanic and soldier whose daredevil adventures weren’t curtailed by age
John Thomson Webster, mechanic and soldier. Born: June 7 1920 in Rutherglen, South Lanarkshire. Died: December 5 2020 in Tain, Rossshire, aged 100
Jo h n We b s t e r w a s a daredevil former D e s e r t R a t w h o served at El Alamein and parachuted into Yugoslavia to support the Resistance.
He’d never thrown himself out of a plane before he was d r o p p e d i n t o a i d t h e p a r t isan offensive near Split during the S econd World War – his only training was leaping f r om a makes h i f t s t r u c t u r e onto a mat.
And though he injured his ankle in the hazardous jump into enemy territor y, it didn’t p u t h i m o f f : h e p l a n n e d t o s k yd ive a g a i n f o r h i s 10 0 t h bir thday, a stunt foiled only by the coronavirus pandemic and just the latest in a long line of exploits that included abseiling aged 79, wing walking aged 85 and sailing at 88. Even at the age of 98 he was still playing table tennis.
The son of First World War s i g n a l s o f f i c e r Ja me s We b - s t e r a n d h i s w i f e M a r y, h e was born in Rutherglen, late r mov i n g t o C a r munn o c k , where he was educated at the local primar y school before attending Rutherglen Academy.
H i s o l d e r b r o t h e r a l r e a dy h a d a g a r a g e b u s i n e s s i n B u s b y a n d y o u n g We b s t e r joined him there to train as a m e c h a n i c b e f o r e e n l i s t - i n g i n 1 9 4 0 , o r i g i n a l l y i n t h e R o y a l A r my O r d n a n c e C o r p s . H e we n t o n t o s e r ve w i t h t h e R o y a l E l e c t r i c a l a n d Me c h a n i c a l E n g i n e e r s ( RE ME) f r o m i t s i n c e p t i o n , repairing, recovering and fitting armoured vehicles.
Po s t e d t o t h e Mi d d l e E a s t with 1st Armoured Division Wor k s h o p , h e l e ar n e d h ow t o d r ive a n d me n d t a n k s i n Alexandria, Eg ypt, with the 8th Army. During t wo years i n t h a t t h e a t r e h e s e r ve d i n b o t h b a t t l e s o f E l A l a m e i n and experienced an extraordinar y e pi so de in whi ch h e u n w i t t i n g l y c a m e w i t h i n a r i f l e s h o t o f R o mme l , t h e Afrika Korps commander.
W e b s t e r ’s w o r k p a r t y h a d b e e n a m b u s h e d wh i l e repairing tanks. Shot up and forced to scatter, he was one of a small group left behind, hotly pursued by the enemy. However, he managed to take cover and watched from his
hiding place as small plane flew over and landed no furt h e r t h a n “a l o n g r i f l e s h o t away”.
A staff car approached the a i r c r a f t , t wo m e n a l i g h t e d and another descended from the plane.
A f t e r a c o n v e r s a t i o n t h e t wo men saluted the visitor, who returned the salute. The car sped away as their supe - rior returned to his plane and took off.
I t wa s o n l y l a t e r We b s t e r realised the visitor was Rommel, the Desert Fox, who was said to have a habit of flying in to recce his troops and the e n e my a c t i o n . “I s aw a p i c - ture of him and that was who it was.”
R o m m e l w a s d e f e a t e d a t t h e s e c o n d b a t t l e o f E l Alamein and after the Allied victor y Webster was p osted to Nor th Africa. He ser ved in Tunisia and Libya in heat so fierce it melted the fat in his t i n s o f c o r n e d b e e f. To c o ns e r v e p r e c i o u s w a t e r t h e troops washed their clothes in petrol, a tactic, he recalled, t h a t a l s o ke p t b u g s a n d l i c e at bay.
H e a l s o r e c o l l e c t e d b e i n g shot at and drenched in blood after salvaging an armoured c a r. H e e s c a p e d w i t h o n l y shrapnel grazes then, but on another occasion witnessed
a h o r r i f i c i n c i d e n t w h e n a s h e l l l a n d e d d o w n t h e t u r - r e t o f a n e a r by t a n k , k i l l i n g a f r i e n d . “T h e wo r s t t h i n g is hearing someone burn to death. You dream about it.”
In 1945 he was attached to a workshop unit with Central Mediterranean Force when he parachuted, under cover o f d a r k n e s s , i n t o G e r m a n - o c c u p i e d Yu g o s l av i a t o a i d the resistance.
Despite his injur y on landi n g h e m a n a g e d t o wa l k t o t h e r e n d e z v o u s p o i n t a n d s u b s e q u e n t l y l i v e d i n t h e hi l l s o ut s i d e S pl i t , s upp o r ting the par tisans, until being s h o t i n t h e h a n d d u r i n g a n a m b u s h . Ev a c u a t e d t o t h e I t a l i a n p o r t o f Ta r a n t o f o r s u rg e r y, h e wa s r e c ove r i n g from the operation when he h e a r d o f v i c t o r y i n E u r o p e , and spent most of VE Day in bed.
After the war he was p osted to Germany with the British Army of the Rhine before being demobbed in 1946 and r e t u r n i n g h o me to man a g e a g a r a g e i n C l a r k s t o n . H e m e t h i s w i f e P a t , w h o w a s a neighbour, when her father a s k e d h i m t o t e a c h h e r t o drive. They married in 1959 and had t wo daughters.
I n 1 9 6 0 h e we n t t o G & J We i r, n ow t h e We i r G r o u p , as an exp editor, and in 1976
the family relo cated to Tain after he encouraged his wife to apply for the headship of a primar y school there.
Fr o m t h e n o n h e h a d va ri o u s j o b s b u t p a r t i c u l a r - l y e n j o ye d b e i n g a s u p e r v i - s o r f o r t h e Yo u t h Tr a i n i n g S cheme. After retiring at 64 he took on occasional duties a s r e l i e f d r i ve r o f a mo b i l e banking van.
A keen sportsman – he had been a gifted footballer in his yo u t h , g u e s t i n g f o r C r ys t a l Palace – he remained active, playing badminton and golf, taking flying and gliding less o n s a n d a b s e i l i n g d o w n Dunrobin Castle.
T h a t s p i r i t o f a d v e n t u r e ke p t h i m s o yo u n g t h a t n o - one ever believed his age and h e m a i n t a i n e d h i s a c t i o n man image when, at almost 86, he took to the air to raise thousands for charit y with a wing walk.
But it didn’t quite live up to the total exp erience he had e nv i s a g e d . H e h a d n’t b e e n a b l e t o l o o p - t h e - l o o p o r enjoy the adrenaline rush of a steep banking manoeuvre. “T h e y we r e t o o g e n t l e wi t h me,” he declared.
He i s s u r v ive d b y h i s wi f e P a t , d a u g h t e r s J a n i c e a n d Anne, three grandsons and a great granddaughter.