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15 October 2014
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The Death of Amy Johnson

by Harry Hargreaves

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Archive List > Royal Navy

Contributed by听
Harry Hargreaves
People in story:听
Harry Hargreaves
Location of story:听
The English Channel
Background to story:听
Royal Navy
Article ID:听
A1363231
Contributed on:听
16 October 2003

I was in a Destroyer escorting a convoy.
It was early in January of 1941, the 8th I think it was, when, in the Channel, just beyond the Thames estuary the lookout reported aircraft. I turned and the aircraft was over the land but coming towards us in a slow side slipping motion. The aircraft was painted sky blue underneath, which indicated it belonged to ferry command who delivered repaired aircraft to the different air bases.

I watched the aircraft circling and getting ever lower and it was clear the Pilot was in deep trouble as the engines kept cutting out and reviving. Suddenly the Pilot made up his mind and put the aircraft down on the sea between us and another small escort vessel, the 鈥淗aslemere鈥. It hit the sea like a pancake and skidded along a little way then began to sink. The door on the starboard side opened and I caught a clear view of the pilot dressed in what appeared to be black leather. The Pilot jumped and the aircraft sank creating turbulence so I could not see what had happened to the pilot.

The Haslemere was quite close and a man dived over the side with a rope tied around his waist. It was impossible to make out the details of what was happening until we saw members of the crew of the Haslemere pulling their crewmember back onboard. It was the Captain who had dived and unfortunately he was dead when they brought him back in. It may have been the frigid water or some other cause but he died in his attempt to save the pilot.

There was very little wreckage, and what there was, had been scooped up by the escort vessel. They had launched a whaler and it came alongside with the material it had rescued. As the senior officer of the escort I suppose they felt it was the duty of our Captain to examine the material and make the necessary report. The most puzzling item was a ladies handbag that was opened first. The contents were completely dry and he laid them out on the hooded table. There was all the usual things a woman would carry in her bag, keys, lipsticks etc. He opened the wallet and I heard him gasp quite audibly. He turned to the curious onlookers, myself included, and said: 鈥淚t was Amy Johnson.鈥

You may not have heard of Amy Johnson but in Britain her name and fame were as well known as Amelia Earhart. Her exploits had brought her not only fame but also a great affection from the people of Britain. Songs were written about her, in fact at school we had had an Amy Johnson day when she had once again achieved a notable flying feat. It was like hearing of the death of an old friend and we were all devastated

The Captain called me over and dictated a message to Admiralty so I had the tragically and unforgettable duty of notifying Britain of the loss of one of it鈥檚 most famous and loved daughters. She was working for Ferry command like many other women pilots and was on her way to deliver the aircraft to an air station. No one ever determined what went wrong with the aircraft and her body was never recovered. I had been writing poetry for a long time. This was a hobby I pursued whenever we had a quiet moment. That afternoon as we resumed our station on the convoy, I scribbled on a signal pad the following: -

AMY JOHNSON
When the last all clear is sounded over
these ravaged lands, and the victory parades
follow the sound of marching bands,
You will not be there.
You will be lying here asleep, in England鈥檚
all protecting keep, and the ever moving
waves will wash gently o鈥檈r your grave.
In such honourable company.

In the years that follow, on each Remembrance Day,
the mourning multitudes will stand silently to pray,
The plaintive notes of the last post will
echo through the land, and the waves will
sound your threnody over the golden sand.
Then you will be there.

For some reason, after the war, several authors writing about the war mentioned the 鈥淢ysterious death鈥 of Amy Johnson. I have read that she bailed out with two others that she was carrying on a secret mission. I have read that she was shot down in France after a clandestine trip to assist the French underground. These stories and others have been printed, and, I expect, have been believed by people. I have no idea why this distortion of facts occurs. I have read several, so called, authoritative accounts by historians on incidents that occurred while I was there that bear absolutely no relation to the actual facts.

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These messages were added to this story by site members between June 2003 and January 2006. It is no longer possible to leave messages here. Find out more about the site contributors.

Message 1 - Amy Johnson

Posted on: 19 October 2003 by Freddy Dyke

Hi there Harry,

I have just read your posting Re Amy Johnson and it has a little interest for me as I remember Amy and a little song we kids used to sing in the mid 1930s when she was flying her record breaking solo flying around the world.
Her disappearence was somehow to me a little sad as the song, ''AMY JOHNSON flew in an aeroplane, flew to China and was never to be seen again''.Now I know she did not fly to China, but if you substitute OXFORD for China it makes our little song strange as we Kids could not have realised those words would come true in tragic circumstances.She took off from a drome in LANCS to deliver an ANSON aircraft to Oxford on that fatefull journey in 1941.I have just written a book in which I mention Amy's flight and also another well known wartime mysterious loss of GLENN MILLER.My book'Memoirs of a Wartime Teenager'reflects on many events that was special to me and these are two events that remain in my memory.
It's nice to reminisce Harry and recall some of the good times and the bad times of the War Years.
CHEERS HARRY, and Best Wishes.
Freddy Dyke.

Message 2 - Amy Johnson

Posted on: 01 November 2003 by Harry Hargreaves

Hi Freddy..I have read so many different (and inaccurate) accounts of the fate of Amy it is nice to hear from someone who was interested in this brave lady. Can you post the part from your book that talks about her, I am very interested.

Message 3 - Amy Johnson

Posted on: 03 November 2003 by Freddy Dyke

Hello once more Harry,
I began to wonder if you had seen my posting Re-Amy Johnson or to use her married name Mrs Mollison. I will be pleased to post you a copy page from my book regarding Amy's last flight but as you point out there are a number of stories that seem to confuse the issue, as to the mysterious loss of Amy's last flight
I also mention the loss of another great name that you might recall during the war years of Glenn Miller,
the American band leader whose tunes
we all danced to in the stressful times we endured from 39-45.
Please let me know where I can send you the copies which I think you will find interesting.All for now.

Best wishes, Freddy Dyke.

Message 4 - Amy Johnson

Posted on: 03 November 2003 by Harry Hargreaves

Hi Freddy, send it to harry@rideau.net Thanks Harry

Message 5 - Amy Johnson

Posted on: 09 November 2003 by Freddy Dyke

Hello Harry again,
Iam replying to your last thread but I seem to be having some difficulty in getting the right contact buttons.
The actual page concerning Amy that I have written about in my book has not yet been posted on WW2 Peoples War.
I needed to retype the extract from that page and after cicking the button on 'Send' which I did the entire contents disappeared. I must admit being new to the Internet and I still have to find my way around,I posted the page to harry@rideau.net as
Email and as I say 'KAPUT'.I will another method later,so sorry sbout the 'Boob'
Regards Freddy.s

Message 6 - Amy Johnson

Posted on: 02 July 2004 by Harry Hargreaves

Many months have passed and still no print out of the page you referred to. Any hope ?.

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