Military service
Burial/memorial information
Digital gallery of Flying Officer Wilfred Sydney Johnson
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Inscription
Inscription - Runnymede Memorial - September 2010 … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens -
Memorial
Stone of Remembrance - Runnymede Memorial - September 2010 … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens -
Memorial
Runnymede Memorial - September 2010 … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens -
Memorial
Panels - Runnymede Memorial - September 2010 … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens -
Memorial
Entrance - Runnymede Memorial - September 2010 … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens -
Memorial
The Soldiers' Tower was built by the University of Toronto Alumni Association in 1924 as a memorial to the Great War of 1914-1918. The names of those who died in that conflict are carved on the Memorial Screen at photo left. After the Second World War, more names were carved in the Memorial Arch at the Tower's base. In total, almost 1,200 names are inscribed. A Memorial Room inside the Tower contains mementoes and artifacts, and a 51-bell carillon serves as the audio element of the living memorial to the alumni, students, faculty and staff who died in the World Wars. The Soldiers' Tower is the site of an annual Service of Remembrance. Photo: Kathy Parks, Alumni Relations. -
Memorial Arch West
The names of those who died in the Second World War were added to the archway beneath the Soldiers' Tower in 1949. The name of "F/O W.S. JOHNSON R.C.A.F." is among the names inscribed. -
Memorial Room
Soldiers' Tower, University of Toronto. Photo: David Pike, courtesy of Alumni Relations. -
Memorial Book
University of Toronto Memorial Book, Second World War 1939-1945. Edited by H. E. Brown, published by the Soldiers' Tower Committee, 1993. Entry on page 34 reads: "F/O Wilfred Sydney JOHNSON 422 Sqn RCAF. Trinity College, BA 1937. Missing, presumed dead, in an air operation overseas, 20 November 1943. Name inscribed on the Runnymede Memorial, Cooper's Hill, Egham, Surrey, England. -
Photo
Group photograph shows Johnson with other members of the yearbook staff. Johnson is shown in the back row, third from photo left. Two of his colleagues in the back row, James Cooper and Alfred Henderson, were also killed in the war. From Torontonensis yearbook, 1937. -
Memorial Stele
This stone stele is located in the chapel at Trinity College in the University of Toronto. "AS DYING AND BEHOLD WE LIVE. TO THE MEMORY OF THOSE MEMBERS OF THIS COLLEGE WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN THE TWO GREAT WARS." The name of "W.S. JOHNSON" is among those inscribed. -
Memorial Scroll
This framed illuminated scroll, written in calligraphy, is entitled "Men and Women of Trinity College on Active Service. Met'Agona Stephanos". It hangs in the hallway outside the narthex of the chapel at Trinity College in the University of Toronto. Small symbols beside the names indicate men and women who are fallen, decorated, and prisoner of war. The list of names includes: '37 Johnson, W.S. Photo: Cody Gagnon, courtesy of Alumni Relations. -
Photo
Photograph of Johnson from Torontonensis, University of Toronto yearbook, 1937. -
Photo of WILFRED SYDNEY JOHNSON
Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me -
Newspaper clipping
From the Toronto Telegram January 1944. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
Digital gallery of
Flying Officer Wilfred Sydney Johnson
Digital gallery of
Flying Officer Wilfred Sydney Johnson
Digital gallery of
Flying Officer Wilfred Sydney Johnson
Digital gallery of
Flying Officer Wilfred Sydney Johnson
Digital gallery of
Flying Officer Wilfred Sydney Johnson
Digital gallery of
Flying Officer Wilfred Sydney Johnson
Digital gallery of
Flying Officer Wilfred Sydney Johnson
Digital gallery of
Flying Officer Wilfred Sydney Johnson
Digital gallery of
Flying Officer Wilfred Sydney Johnson
In the Books of Remembrance
Commemorated on:
Page 175 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance.
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RUNNYMEDE MEMORIAL Surrey, United Kingdom
The design of the Runnymede Memorial is original and striking. On the crest of Cooper's Hill, overlooking the Thames, a square tower dominates a cloister, in the centre of which rests the Stone of Remembrance. The cloistered walks terminate in two lookouts, one facing towards Windsor, and the other towards London Airport at Heathrow. The names of the dead are inscribed on the stone reveals of the narrow windows in the cloisters and the lookouts. They include those of 3,050 Canadian airmen. Above the three-arched entrance to the cloister is a great stone eagle with the Royal Air Force motto, Per Ardua ad Astra". On each side is the inscription:
IN THIS CLOISTER ARE RECORDED THE NAMES OF TWENTY THOUSAND AIRMEN WHO HAVE NO KNOWN GRAVE. THEY DIED FOR FREEDOM IN RAID AND SORTIE OVER THE BRITISH ISLES AND THE LANDS AND SEAS OF NORTHERN AND WESTERN EUROPE
In the tower a vaulted shrine, which provides a quiet place for contemplation, contains illuminated verses by Paul H. Scott."
For more information, visit Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
The Poppy Design is a trademark of The Royal Canadian Legion (Dominion Command) and is used with permission. Click here to learn more about the poppy.
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