John Frederick Herbert
Stephen LearmonthWhen John Frederick Herbert was born on the 29th of December, 1920, in Corryong, Victoria, his father, Frederick, was 42 and his mother, Florence Amelia (née Phillips), was 34. He had one brother, Gordon Edward, born in 1921, who enlisted in the Army and served during WW2.
John enlisted on the 8th of November, 1940, at the No. 1 Recruiting Centre in Melbourne and was given the service number 400799. It had been close to six months since John had his medical examination at the Centre. At the time of enlisting, he was 19 years and 5 months old, 5 feet 9 ¼ inches (175 cm) tall, weighed 141 lbs (64 kg) and had a medium complexion, blue eyes, and medium colour hair. He gave his religious denomination as the Church of England.
John’s first posting was to the No. 1 Initial Training School, at Somers on the Mornington Peninsula, on the 10th of November 1940. Somers was a three-month crash course with lectures and many tests. Some of the topics that students were trained in include:- mathematics, navigation, law and administration, signals, medical, physical training, science, armament, gas defence, and hygiene. In June of 1940, students started Link Trainer familiarisation training.
After two months, a classified mustering of each member was made for wireless/air gunners, gunners, navigators, and pilots. The latter two did another month that favoured navigation. In the third month, those to be pilots or navigators were posted accordingly. All aircrew rookies had to wear a white flash in their caps to indicate their musterings until they won their wings or failed to make the grade.
After completing his initial training and being mustered as a pilot, John embarked at Adelaide, South Australia on the 8th of March 1941. He would undertake his flying training in South Africa as part of the Joint Air Training Scheme. This scheme allowed members of Commonwealth Air Forces, and other Allied countries, to complete their training in either South Africa or Canada.
During his time in South Africa, John would attend three training schools. The first would be 28 EFTS (Elementary Flight Training School), in Rhodesia from the 5th of April. This school gave a recruit 50 hours of basic aviation instruction on a simple trainer like the Tiger Moth. The second school was 23 SFTS (Service Flight Training School), also in Rhodesia, from the 28th of May. This school provided advanced training for pilots, including fighter and multi-engined aircraft. This occurred at Zwartkop Air Station, Hind, Hart. While here, John was injured in a flying accident, on the 23rd of July, which caused abrasions to his face and a fractured skull. It was at this school that John was awarded his flying badge, or “Wings”, on the 14th of October. The final school, from the 8th of December, was 61 Air School at George, Western Cape. This course provided training in general reconnaissance, and flying Anson aircraft. On the 28th of February 1942, John embarked on a troopship and headed to the United Kingdom.
The journey to the United Kingdom took just over one week and John disembarked on the 9th of March, one year since he embarked at Adelaide.
John’s first posting was No. 3 PRC (Personnel Reception Centre), located at Bournemouth on the south coast of England. The purpose of this centre was to allow Australian airmen to rest, fill out the necessary paperwork, and await posting to relevant RAF training units. 3 PRC men were also given leave to acclimatise themselves to England.
On the 27th of April, John was sent to No. 1510 BATF (Blind Approach Training Flight), located at RAF Leuchars in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. The Beam Approach Beacon System – BABS – was a homing device used to help pilots land in poor visibility. Radio beacons on the airfield transmitted signals, which were picked up by aircraft on their approach to land. The Main Beacon at the end of the runway transmitted a signal in the form of a narrow beam. When the pilot was lined up correctly on this beam the signal received was steady and he knew he was heading straight towards the runway. If he was too far to the left or right, the signal received was a stream of dots or dashes and he corrected his course until the signal changed to a steady pulse. When the aircraft crossed the Outer and Inner Marker Beacons the pilot also detected their distinctive signals, which told him how far he was from the point of touch-down. He used this information to check his rate of descent until the ground came into view and he could make a safe visual landing.
After one month at No. 1510, John was transferred to No. 2 OTU (Operational Training Unit). This unit was formed in 1940 as part of Coastal Command at RAF Catfoss for training aircrew on coastal command twin-engined fighter and strike aircraft types. It was located 6.4 km west of Hornsea, Yorkshire, England, and 13 km northeast of Leconfield, Yorkshire, with the nearest village being Brandesburton.
On the 29th of July, John was posted to No.143 Squadron Coastal Command. This squadron operated as a long-range fighter unit based at RAF Aldergrove and was equipped with the Bristol Beaufighter. John was only at 143 for one week before he received his final posting to No. 254 Squadron, on the 4th of August 1942. No. 254 Squadron was based at RAF North Coates in Lincolnshire, England. The squadron was part of the North Coates Strike Wing and included No.'s 143, 236, and 254 Squadrons who were tasked with attacking enemy shipping in the North Sea.
John’s operational records in 254 Squadron provide us with a snapshot of the type of tasks he was involved in.
06/12/42: Flying Beaufighter L. V.8154 with Flight Sergeant Macpherson as navigator. Flight lasted from 0835 to 1110 and involved a reconnaissance of the Dutch coast. Nothing seen
08/12/42: Flying Beaufighter L. V.8154 with Flight Sergeant Macpherson as navigator. Flight lasted from 0810 to 1150 and involved an air search approximately 25 km from the coast of Holland, dinghy found with survivors who were later picked up by HSL (High speed launch).
11/12/42: Flying Beaufighter U. T.3432 with Flight Sergeant Macpherson as navigator. Flight lasted from 1535 to 1800 and involved a reconnaissance of the Dutch coast. Nothing seen
14/12/42: Flying Beaufighter U. T.3432 with Flight Sergeant Macpherson as navigator. Flight lasted from 0855 to 1130 and involved firing upon 12 vessels and 5 minesweepers but no damage.
24/12/42: Flying Beaufighter T. V.8145 with Flight Sergeant Macpherson as navigator Flight lasted from 1015 to 1300 and involved a reconnaissance of the Dutch coast. Nothing seen
29/12/42: Flying Beaufighter A. V.8216 with Flight Sergeant Macpherson as navigator. Flight lasted from 0915 to 1155 and involved a reconnaissance of the Dutch coast. Nothing seen
04/01/43: Flying Beaufighter F T.3417 with Flight Sergeant Macpherson as navigator. Flight lasted from 9.10 to 1205 and involved a reconnaissance of the Dutch coast. Nothing seen
09/01/43: Flying Beaufighter with Flight Sergeant Flight Macpherson as navigator. Flight lasted from 11.30 to 1630 and involved ASR (Air Sea Rescue) search over the north sea for an aeroplane reported missing, nothing seen.
25/01/43 : Flying Beaufighter L. V.8154 with Flight Sergeant Macpherson as navigator Flight lasted from 1120 to 1425 and involved a reconnaissance of the Dutch coast. Nothing seen
It is clear from the information above that John and his navigator worked together closely as a team. His navigator, Joseph Cormack Macpherson was born in 1920, and was the elder son of John and Jessie Macpherson of Dunolly, Forsyth St, Hopeman, a Scottish coastal town, north-east of Inverness. He was educated at Elgin Academy and volunteered for service when he was 18. Joseph (987187) was a member of the RAFVR (Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve). He had a younger sister, Christina May, at the time of his death.
Two days after the last flight recorded above, on the 27th of January 1943, John took off with Joseph on a night navigation exercise. John was piloting Beaufighter T3447. Witnesses saw the Beaufighter complete a partial circuit while returning from the exercise. Suddenly it struck the ground in a very shallow dive, approximately 8 km from the airfield, and burned out on a local defence post. Both John and Joseph were killed in the crash. The cause of the crash was not determined, but it was believed that either John had misread his altimeter on a very dark night, or that the altimeter may have been faulty.
John was buried in St Nicholas Churchyard, at North Coates, Lincolnshire, England while Joseph was taken home and buried at Duffus, Moray in Scotland.
He is also remembered at the Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, and the Corryong War Memorial. For his service, he was awarded the Air Crew Europe Star, the 1939-1945 Star, the Defence Medal, the War Medal 1939-1945 and the Australian Service Medal 1939-1945.
