JSF13 Disbandment 60 Sqn RAF Cover signed AIR VICE MARSHAL JOHNSTONE CB DFC AE For Sale

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JSF13 Disbandment 60 Sqn RAF Cover signed AIR VICE MARSHAL JOHNSTONE CB DFC AE:
$25.83

Disbandment of 60 Squadron RAF Cover signed Battle of Britain Pilot Air Vice Marshal Alexander Johnstone CB DFC AE

JSF13 Produced in 1992 with Mini stamp sheet depicting aircraft of 60 Squadron Nieuport 17, SE5a, DH Venom and Andover.

Bears RAF Royal Mail RAF Commanders Lord Dowding stamp and Defin Stamps cancelled with BFPS 2318 for Disbandment of 60 SquadronCover has been flown in Andover on the last flight before disbandment of 60 Squadron from its final base at RAF Wildenrath to RAF Finningley and then to RAF Northolt where the aircraft was taken onto 32 Squadron

Cover is signed by

Air Vice Alexander Johnston CB DFC AE

Obituary

During the Battle of Britain, Air Vice-Marshal Sandy Johnstone, who has died aged 84, was an acting squadron leader, commanding 602 (City of Glasgow) Auxiliary Air Force Squadron and flying Spitfires from West Hampnett airfield in west Sussex. Then only 24, he had already shot down three German bombers, the first of them at night, near Dunbar, before the squadron moved south. His eventual score was at least eight confirmed, with four \"probables\".

Despite this, Johnstone counted himself a notoriously bad shot, claiming that \"if I had downed all the German aircraft I shot at, I\'d have ended up with a very big score\". Good shot or not, the citation for his DFC, gazetted on October 1 1940, described him as conspicuously successful and \"a leader of ability and determination\".

Johnstone was born in Glasgow and educated at Kelvinside Academy. At the age of 18, while working for an Edinburgh shoe company, he joined 602 squadron and spent his weekends learning to fly. During the next four years, he worked as a civilian navigation instructor, first at Scottish Aviation and later at the Civil Air Navigation School, Prestwick. In August 1939, he was called up for fulltime service with 602 squadron.

Following a spell as operations controller at Royal Air Force Turnhouse, Johnstone went to Haifa in April 1942 as sector commander, from where he moved to become station commander at Luqa, in Malta, before taking command of a Spitfire wing there.

At the beginning of 1943, with air attacks on Malta lessening, the RAF was able to return to the offensive and, on January 16, Johnstone escorted 12 Spitfires, acting in the unlikely role of bombers, with a 500lb payload beneath each wing, in a spectacular low-level attack on a chemical factory at Panchino, Sicily. He later wrote a lively account of this raid, admitting that so overwhelming was the feeling of excitement that \"your mouth ran dry with the taste of it\". For his service in Malta, Johnstone received a mention in dispatches.

Later that year he returned to Britain to attend staff college, following this with a stint in command of a Hurricane conversion unit and a period as officer commanding Fairwood Common. In May 1944, promoted acting group captain, he joined the Allied Expeditionary Air Force operations staff in preparation for D-Day. After the landings in Aule, he went to Normandy with HQ AEAF.

A short attachment to the RAF delegation in Washington followed, after which Johnstone joined the staff at HQ Fighter Command\'s 12 Group. Having been granted a permanent commission, he served as air attaché in Dublin from 1946-48, and held a number of Air Ministry posts before an enjoyable two years as officer commanding RAF Ballykelly. In 1953, he commanded the air-sea warfare development unit at RAF St Mawgan and the next year returned to 12 Group as senior air staff officer.

In 1956, with the Malayan emergency continuing, Johnstone went to the far east as deputy air defence commander in Malaya, following this with a secondment to help set up what became the Royal Malaysian Air Force. Back in Britain, he held various appointments, including director of personnel at the Air Ministry. Having enjoyed the far east, he jumped at the chance to return, this time to Borneo as Air Commodore, Commonwealth Air Forces.

Promoted air vice-marshal in 1965, his last appointments included command of Coastal Command\'s 18 Group, air officer Scotland and Northern Ireland and maritime air commander, Nato. He was appointed CB in 1966 and, reflecting his years as an Auxiliary Air Force officer, also held the much-prized air efficiency award.

For 10 years following his retirement in 1968, Johnstone was vice-chairman of the Territorial Auxiliary and Volunteer Reserve. He was a deputy lieutenant of Glasgow from 1971-94. For a number of years, he worked for National Car Parks, heading their Scottish operations and, later, as London director.

He enjoyed sailing, golf and writing. His first book, One Man\'s War (1964), was followed by Where No Angels Dwell (1969), Enemy In The Sky (1976), Adventure In The Sky (1978), Spitfire Into War (1986), and Diary Of An Aviator (1993).

Looking back on 1940, Johnstone admitted that the most worrying part was waiting for the telephone to ring with the order to scramble. \"For years afterwards,\" he wrote, \"the sound of a phone ringing two houses away would have me out of bed. I still hate the ringing of a telephone.\".

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JSF13 Disbandment 60 Sqn RAF Cover signed AIR VICE MARSHAL JOHNSTONE CB DFC AE

$25.83