HUNTER John Thompson
NAME HUNTER John Thompson
RANK Flight Sergeant 69856 Group 3 - RAF Bomber Command SQUADRON RCAF No. 419 “Moose” - City of Kamloops
“beware of the moose”
RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk
Squadron Markings VR H Residence Guelph - Ontario Birth July 9, 1917 - Goderich - Township of Goderich - County of Huron - Ontario Died June 17, 1942 25 years
Memorial Runnymead Memorial - Englefield Green – Egham - Surrey - England
Panel 104
Father Mr. John Hunter - Goderich Sisters Grace Hunter of Goderich Pearl Hunter of Ottawa Mrs. Jean Barclay of St. George - New Brunswick
John was born in Goderich on July 9, 1917. He enjoyed nature study, swimming, hockey and rugby along
with hunting. His primary education was at S.S. 5 Colborne Township and he then attended Goderich Collegiate. Following this he attended the Orangeville Business College and then was employed at Guelph Stove as an electrical employee upon his enlistment. They were located at the corner of York Road and Victoria Road. He lived at 107 Waterloo Avenue in Guelph. The family would have attended either Victoria Street United Church or North Street United Church. Growing up he enjoyed riding horses, hockey and swimming.
Canada
He went to Toronto to enlist into the RCAF on July 20, 1940 where he was given the rank of Air Craftsman 2nd class. When he enlisted he was 5' 11" tall and weighed 175 pounds. He had a dark complexion with hazel eyes and brown hair. Two days later he was assigned to No. 1 Manning Depot in Toronto. From here he was posted to RCAF Station at Trenton - Ontario. At the end of the month he was on his way to No. 2 Initial Flying School at Regina Saskatchewan. Here he would learn theoretical subjects such as navigation, theory of flight, meteorology, duties of an officer, algebra and trigonometry and had to deal with a variety of tests which included a 4 hour medical test, time in a decompression chamber and a "test flight" on a Link Trainer. He was then re-routed into the Wireless Air Funner stream with his next posting being No. 1 Wireless School in Montreal - Quebec While posted here was was given the rank of Leading Aircraftsman. He now learned the theory and application of wireless communications which included signalling with lights, flags and radio. On February 2, 1941, his next posting took him to No. 1 Bombing and Gunnery School at Jarvis - Ontario. He would learn the techniques of bomb aiming as well as aerial machine gunnery. On March 15th he was given the rank of Tactical Sergeant and was awarded his Air Gunner Badge. It was then onto No. 1 "M" Depot in Halifax - Nova Scotia on March 18th. Then he transferred to the Royal Air Force on April 16th. He had originally tried for Wireless Operator but re-classified to Air Gunner. On May 11th he went to "Y" Depot in Halifax and then at the end of June he became attached to the Royal Air Force Trainee Pool.
Overseas
In mid July Sergeant Hunter embarked from Halifax and Canada and then disembarked in the United Kingdom on July 28, 1941. The following day he went to No. 3 Personnel Reception Centre. His military file states that on August 6, 1941 he was posted to No. 2R School but it is unknown what exactly this was. His next posting was to No. 1 Air Armament School on November 1st. Near the end of the month on November 26th he was posted to No. 22 Operational Training Unit where he would learn night time flying. He was given the rank of Flight Sergeant while posted here. In the spring of 1942, on May 25th, Flight Sergeant Hunter was posted to No. 419 RAF Squadron - Mildenhall and at this time the squadron was flying Wellington bombers. The mission this night of June 16/17, 1942 was to Essen in Germany which was important because it had the Krupp Steel Works and produced ammunition and armaments.
Flight Sergeant Hunter who was the gunner on the revolving and tractable ventral (bottom) turret and his crew mates were on board Wellington Mk III X 3723 which was loaded with 4,250 pounds of bombs and they lifted off the runway at 23:36 hours of June 16th. They were carrying 2 – 1,000 pound bombs, 3 - 500 pound bombs and 3 - 250 pound bombs. On the outbound leg to Essen they were attacked by a German night fighter flown by Major Heinrich Prinz zu Sayne Wittgenstein of 9/Nachtagdgesschwader who was flying a Junkers 88c night fighter. The Wellington crashed into the sea at 3:23 am on the morning of June 17, 1942 about 3 miles north-west of Noordwijk - Netherlands.
Three bodies of the crew were recovered, but Flight Sergeant Hunter was never located.
The Wellington was able to carry 4,500 pounds of bombs. It was an aircraft with a low speed and a low
ceiling. The geometric lattice work design made the Wellington a tough aircraft and it could survive damage
that would have destroyed other aircraft. During daylight missions it was ineffective, but it went to build up
a great reputation for reliability and ruggedness during night missions.
During the month of August 1943 John's father received the Memorial Cross. Then in February of 1947 the Hunter family received the medals awarded to John which were the 1939-45 Star, the Air Crew Europe Star, the Defence and War Medals along with the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal and clasp.
John is honoured and remembered on the Goderich - Ontario Cenotaph. His military files states that he is Church of England and United so he quite possibly is honoured and remembered on the Memorial plaques of North Street United (Lakeshore United) and St. George's Anglican Church. In addition he is honoured and remembered on the Virtual War Memorial of No 419 "moose" Squadron. He is honoured and remembered on the Virtual Canadian War Memorial and on the Memorial Plaque of Goderich Collegiate. He is also honoured and remembered on the Memorial Plaque of Group 6 - Bomber Command.
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