From Airman to Attorney General: RAF Navigator Johnny Smythe

Warfare

History Hit

History

4.5 • 943 Ratings

🗓️ 21 June 2021

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Beginning with his birth in 1915 in Sierra Leone, the life of John Henry Smythe OBE MBE is almost unbelievable. From becoming a navigator in the RAF during the Second World War, to being held captive in a German POW camp, to being the Senior Officer making key decisions about the futures of the people aboard HMT Empire Windrush and becoming Attorney General for Sierra Leone; the twists and turns in this story are incredible. James was joined by John’s son, Eddy, and the BBC’s Tim Stokes to hear this account of life during and after the Second World War, in which we even get a glimpse of JFK.

Listen out for Eddy’s song, written in memory of his father, at the end of the episode. You can find the music video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIarzhxtGsU&ab_channel=EddySmythe

Tim’s article can be found here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-55286092

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello everyone welcome back to the history hit warfare podcast I'm your host James Rogers and the other week I was reading through an article written by the BBC's Tim Stokes and it was about John Henry Smyve. You might not have heard of this man, but he was an Ari F navigator from Sierra Leone in West Africa, and he was shot down and captured by the Nazis in 1943. Not only was he one of the first black airmen in the Royal Air Force, but after the war he was the man in charge of the historic voyage of the SS windrush.
0:29.5	In fact, he would go on to have an amazing legal career he would be involved in the
0:34.4	independence of Sierra Leone and he'd even go on to meet JFK and Bobby Kennedy to
0:40.0	take us through this man's fascinating personal history and manage to get the author of that BBC article, Tim Stokes, onto the podcast and also John's son Eddie.
0:51.0	This history is really one that everyone should know today. Yeah. Tim, thank you so much for coming on the warfare podcast.
1:12.9	How are you doing today?
1:14.4	Yeah, doing great thanks.
1:16.7	The pub's open today, but I won't be going there
1:19.1	because it's freezing cold.
1:21.1	But other than that, yeah doing fine thanks yeah
1:24.0	doing well at least that all work so a bit jaded but you know we're good yeah a bit jaded
1:29.4	no worries at all well you know this topic I know for a fact is going to liven us all up because it is a pretty
1:36.5	electric history, let's just say that. It is really great actually to have you both on the
1:40.6	podcast, especially given this history that we're discussing
1:43.5	which is your family history isn't it Eddie especially it's about your father
1:47.3	John Henry Johnny Smyth M be so let's jump straight into it. Tell us who your father was and when did he join the
1:56.3	REF? Yeah John Henry Smyth you're born in 1915, Freetown, Sierra Leone.
2:02.3	He joined the REF in 15, Freetown, Sierra Leone.
2:03.0	He joined the REF in 1940 when Britain called upon its colonies
2:10.6	to supply both people and equipment to aid the war effort.
2:16.4	And my dad took the view, well,
2:18.6	Cyrilio on his part of the British colony,
	...

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