Rejected Twice, Decorated for Life: How Johnnie Johnson Became the RAF’s Deadliest Pilot

The RAF rejected Johnnie Johnson twice before he ever fired a shot in anger. Class prejudice blocked his first application. A rugby injury to his collarbone blocked the second. He joined a cavalry unit instead, riding horses in a non-combat role until the day he spotted a line of Hawker Hurricanes on a nearby airfield. He later said he would sooner fight Hitler in one of those than on a horse. By the end of the war, 38 Luftwaffe pilots had discovered exactly how right he was.

Learning Under Bader

Johnson earned his wings on August 28, 1940, managing his collarbone injury through training by packing it with wool and tightening his harness straps to stabilize it. When he joined his squadron in spring 1941, his new commanding officer was Douglas Bader, the legless ace and aggressive tactician who had pioneered the Big Wing formation concept. Bader drilled his pilots on discipline, teamwork, and Spitfire superiority. Johnson absorbed all of it.

His first confirmed kill came on June 26, 1941, over Lille, when he outmaneuvered a Bf 109 and brought it down. Two more Bf 109s followed the next month. Then Bader was shot down over Pas de Calais in August, captured, and the wing he had built lost its architect. Johnson carried the lessons forward without him.

The Fw 190 Problem

By April 1942, Johnson faced a different challenge. The Luftwaffe had deployed the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, and it was outperforming early Spitfire variants at altitudes below 25,000 feet. The Fw 190 rolled faster, hit harder, and could out-dive and out-climb what Johnson was flying. RAF casualties climbed sharply. On April 15, Johnson engaged an Fw 190 for the first time and damaged it, but the type held the advantage over his aircraft for the rest of that year.

His record against the Bf 109 kept rising regardless. By July 10, 1942, he had been promoted to squadron leader and given command of 610 Squadron.

Dieppe

Johnson’s first major test as a commander came on August 19, 1942, during the Dieppe raid. Leading 610 Squadron in air cover for the amphibious assault, he faced roughly 50 German fighters throughout the day in multiple engagements. He shot down his first Fw 190 that morning, watching it go into the sea.

Later, returning to base, he engaged another Fw 190 in a head-on fight that descended from 8,000 feet to nearly zero. Over the harbor he dove toward a destroyer, using its anti-aircraft fire to drive the German off his tail. He landed back at base less than three hours after takeoff.

Greycap Leader

After Christmas 1942, Johnson was promoted to Wing Commander and given the 172 Kenley Wing. The new year brought the Spitfire IX, built specifically to answer the Fw 190. Johnson flew it from February 1943 onward, keeping the personal call sign JE-J on his aircraft and the radio moniker Greycap Leader. By fall 1943 his confirmed kills stood at 25.

He flew over Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944, finding the skies largely empty due to the Allied air campaign that had already gutted Luftwaffe presence over the beachhead. Through the summer his wing shifted to ground attack, hunting supply lines and fortifications as the Allies pushed inland. His kill count passed the previous Allied record of 32 set by Sailor Malan before June was out.

On August 23, 1944, after shooting down two Fw 190s, Johnson found himself separated from his wing and accidentally joined a formation of six aircraft he misidentified as friendly. They were Bf 109s. He went for the sun, took a hit in the wing root, and flew back to base on the supercharger boost alone. He switched aircraft and went back out the same day.

His 38th and final kill came on September 27, 1944, an Fw 190 attacked out of the sun. When the war in Europe ended in 1945, no Western Allied pilot had destroyed more German aircraft than Johnnie Johnson.