POW ex RAF in WW2

[Genienut]

Hi,
I am not sure if I am in the right forum but I saw a similar thread a while ago and as I have so little to go on I thought I would give it a go.
I am looking for information about my uncle who was shot down early in the WW2 conflict and ended up in Poland and was one of the victims of the "Long March" or "Death March". I have conflicting information that he was RAF and that he was shot down in Europe, but I also was told that he served in North Africa. If the North Africa bit is true then he may have been SAAF, but not necessarily. His name was David Wells Johnson and his service number was 1331640. I also was given a 'POW' number, 27043. I would like to find out the true details and especially which squadron he served with. It would have been a Spitfire squadron. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Old-Duffer]

Johnson

The service number seems RAF but he could have trained in SA or Rhodesia. SA numbers usually have a letter included. POW number 27040 was allocated to Sgt E W P Johnson.

Why are you so certain it was a Spitfire sqn?

O-D

[Genienut]

You are quite right about the training. He had an uncle who was involved with flying training, I think in Rhodesia and the story goes that my uncle joined his uncle there and completed his initial training in Rhodesia. Regarding the Spitfire bit, this is heresay. I have no concrete evidence of this. Unfortunately when I first started family history I was not too concerned about sources of information and I cannot remember where I got the service and POW numbers from.

To all on the forum, I must apologise for the duplicate thread. The first time I hit the submit button my PC crashed and I thought that my message had not been sent, so I re-submitted. Sorry guys.

[Old-Duffer]

More Info

Who is the surviving next of kin? They can ask for a copy of the Record of Service and this will reveal all (or almost all) about the man and his service record. It saves a devil's own amount of work and provides a key for further - often fruitful - research and from a valid baseline.

Who has access to any papers, photos etc of the man? These usually give clues aplenty!

O-D

[Genienut]

His daughter, my cousin, is the only surviving immediate relative that I am aware of. I will ask her if she would apply for his service record. Who does one approach for such documents? I will also ask her if she has any other documentation. She has already promised to send me copies of whatever photos she has. Thanks for your help.

G

[forget]

There's a D W Johnson here, but not much info. Was his family name Wells Johnson or Johnson?

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