Eighty years ago those here on the Homefront anxiously awaited the delivery of the newspaper every day to pore over the war news. Local men were still in the thick of fighting on both the European and Pacific fronts. Everyone was so weary of the stress and strain of loved ones in danger as well as the sacrifices that war shortages had brought. The end of the war was near …
On a beautiful Spring day, April 6, 1943, the distinct rumble of a B-17 Flying Fortress (pictured below) could be heard in the skies over Jamestown.
Those on the east side of town toward Falconer, watched as the huge airplane circled around the village of Falconer. The low-flying aircraft seemed to hover for a second over the Falconer Street and Phetteplace intersection, as the pilot, who was 1st Lt. Harold Austin Johnson (top right), dropped something out of the plane.
1st Lt. Johnson, who had enlisted in the Army in June 1941, had hastily written a note to his parents, Ray and Adele Johnson, tied it to a pencil and used his handkerchief as a parachute. He dropped the note in his parents’ yard at 204 Falconer Street in Falconer. Johnson and his crew were enroute to the East Coast and were headed to Europe. He arrived in England on April 25, 19 days after flying over his hometown, according to newspaper reports.
Johnson was reported missing on June 13, 1943, after his plane was shot down over Germany. He was 24 years old. He is memorialized at the Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial in Cambridgeshire, England. In May he was lauded for saving the lives of eight downed fliers who were floundering in the North Sea. Johnson circled his plane low and threw them his own plane’s life rafts.
Harold was the youngest of his three brothers to serve in the war. Cpl. Ralph Hooker Johnson was assistant chaplain at Aberdeen Proving Grounds and Cpl. Richard Clark Johnson was stationed in the Phillippines.
A memorial service was held in July at the Falconer Methodist Church. After Harold’s death, Mr. and Mrs. Johnson received a letter from Harold’s commandant: “We shall never forget the part played by Harold in the establishment of the combat record of the 410th Bombardment Squadron, a record that has become an integral part of the history of this war and one which we can all be ever so proud. The unselfish courage and the unstinting devotion to duty that Harold exhibited has been a guiding example for all of us.”
Thank you for your service, Harold.
