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In memory of:

Pilot Officer Norman Johnston

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Military service

Service number: J/85052
Age: 24
Rank: Pilot Officer
Force: Air Force
Unit/Regiment: Royal Canadian Air Force
Division: 405 Squadron
Death: June 3, 1944 Boissière Ecole, France

Burial/memorial information

ST. DESIR WAR CEMETERY
Grave reference: VII. C. 10.
Additional information
Son of Andrew and Elizabeth Johnston, of Vancouver, British Columbia. Originally from Powell River, British Columbia. On the 62nd anniversary, June 3, 1944 - June 3, 2006, of the crash of the Lancaster LQ-C ND-507 which took the lives of Pilot Officer Norman Johnston, Pilot Officer David A. Kelley, Pilot Officer J.G. Maurice Renaud, Pilot Officer Leslie A. McCrea and Squadron Leader George E. Coldrey were honoured at the unveiling of a monument at la Bossière-Ecole, France. Guests included former German Pilot Frithjof Fensch, who downed the plane; family members Edith Bannerman, sister of David A. Kelley; Pierre Monfette, nephew of J.G. Maurice Renaud;, Lucinda Brouwer, niece of Leslie A. McCrea. Tori Olson, daughter of American Lieutenant Leroy Q. Olson, Christopher O'Neill, son of British Flight Lieutenant John H. O'Neill, and George Court, son of Canadian Flight Lieutenant George L. Court, children of the three survivors of the crash attended in honour of their fathers whom all died since 1995. Representing La Boisseère-Ecole were Francois Heiliger, Mayor, Fabien Drouin, First Deputy Mayor and Fréderic Vincent, Historical Adviser whose research led to the unveiling and commemoration of the deceased.

Related media

Second World War (1939 – 1945)

In the Books of Remembrance

Commemorated on:

Page 347 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance.
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ST. DESIR WAR CEMETERY Calvados, France

St Desir is a village on the N13 to Caen, 4 kilometres west of Lisieux. The war cemetery is about one kilometre west of the village and lies on a secondary road, the D159.

For more information, visit Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

 

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