Air Vice-Marshal Johnnie Johnson - a policeman's son from
Leicestershire - ended the Second World War as the RAF's top-scoring
fighter pilot. Fearless, and an exceptional pilot and marksman, Johnnie
was also highly intelligent and a gifted writer.
Having published two of his own books, Wing Leader and The Circle of Air
Fighting, during the 1980s and 1990s, Johnnie co-authored several more
with another fighter ace, namely Wing Commander P.B. 'Laddie' Lucas. In
1997, the 'AVM' suggested to his friend, the prolific author Dilip
Sarkar, that the pair should collaborate on The Great Adventure - a book
that would, in effect, be Johnnie's account of the 'Long Trek' from
Normandy across Northern Europe into the heart of the Third Reich
itself.
'Greycap Leader' was to produce a draft, after which Dilip would add the
historical detail and comment. Sadly, the project was unfulfilled,
because Johnnie became ill and passed away, aged eighty-five, in 2001.
Years later, Johnnie's eldest son, Chris, discovered the manuscript
among his august father's papers. In order to keep Johnnie's memory
evergreen, Chris naturally turned to Dilip to finally see the project
through to its natural conclusion.
In this book Johnnie re-visits certain aspects of his wartime service,
including the development of tactical air cooperation with ground
forces; his time as a Canadian wing leader in 1943, when the Spitfire
Mk.IX at last outclassed the Fw 190; and details his involvement in some
of the most important battles of the defeat of Nazi Germany, including
Operation Overlord and the D-Day landings in 1944, Operation Market
Garden and the airborne assault at Arnhem, and the Rhine Crossings,
throughout all of which Johnnie also commanded Canadian wings.
Here, then, we have The Great Adventure - 'Greycap Leader's' previously
unpublished last look back.
