PREVIEW: ORDERS, DECORATIONS, MEDALS & MILITARIA 15 FEBRUARY

The extraordinary gallantry, fearlessness and aerial success of Frank Johnson left him as the most highly decorated surviving British N.C.O fighter pilot of the Great War.

His exploits, first as an Observer/Gunner, then as a Bristol fighter pilot, led to the destruction of numerous enemy aircraft, with Johnson closing in to just a few yards in many cases to ensure victory.

As an Observer/Gunner, his engagement with other craft would sometimes involve him climbing on to the rim of his cockpit to fire the pilot’s gun backwards over the top wing. Standing with everything from his knees upwards outside the plane and without any safety belt or other restraint, the only thing preventing him from being thrown out of the aircraft was his grip on the gun and the sides of the nacelle.

As Frederick Libby, an American ace who served as an F.E.2b observer at the same time as Johnson in 1916, later related: “You had nothing to worry about except being blown out of the aircraft by the blast of air or tossed out bodily if the pilot made a wrong move. There were no parachutes and no belts. No wonder they needed observers.”

On the award of Johnson’s initial Distinguished Conduct Medal in April 1917, the London Gazette announced: “For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty as an Observer. He was attacked by three hostile machines and shot one of them down. He had previously shot down three other machines.”

When the DCM Second Award Bar was added, the London Gazette reported on 3 September 1918: “For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty in encounters with enemy aeroplanes, with the following results: Attack and crashed a Pfalz scout, drove down an Albatross out of control. On previous occasions he had destroyed four enemy aeroplanes and driven three down out of control.”

Johnson had shot down the four aircraft between September 1916 and February 1917, each in a different F.E.2b, and each working with a different pilot.

When he took on an Albatross D.1 over Guedecourt on 16 October, he engaged it from just 15 to 20 yards, with another attacked from just 30 yards over Le Sars.

Having retrained as a pilot, he was posted to France and joined No 20 Squadron – probably the highest scoring and most decorated Royal Flying Corps squadron on the entire Western Front, with 613 combat victories. Here, Johnson scored nine more victories between 11 October 1917 and 17 February 1918, with another three victories added after transferring to No 62 Squadron. By April 1918, he had shot down 16 aircraft.

Oliver Pepys, Associate Director and Medal Specialist at Noonans, said: “It was most unusual for a Sergeant to be awarded a DCM rather than a Military Medal, given that Johnson would have received the MC if he had been a Warrant Officer. It probably reflected his outstanding keenness and devotion to duty, mentioned in both his citations, in addition to his high level of conspicuous gallantry when heavily outnumbered during battles.”

Noonans will offer Johnson’ DCM, GVR, with Second Award Bar, together with his British War and Victory Medals, with an estimate of £20,000-30,000.

The following links are related to this article:

Auction Catalogue