The Extraordinary Life of Johnny Smythe QC, MBE (mil) OBE

John Smythe QC, MBE (mil) OBE was born in Sierra Leone in 1915. When the RAF appealed to the British Empire for assistance in prosecuting WW2, Johnny as he was known to his friends volunteered and was accepted into the force. He passed out of training school as a flight officer and joined Bomber Command as a Navigator on the Short Stirling bomber.

He was shot down over a heavily defended target in Germany on 18 November 1943 and although wounded made a successful parachute jump. He was captured after 24 hours and brutally interrogated before being sent to hospital to have his wounds treated. He was then sent to Stalag Luft 1 in Barth, Germany where he would spent the next 18 months as a Prisoner of War before being liberated in April 1945 by the Russians.

On his return to the UK he was seconded to the Colonial Office…