High French honour for city veteran

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This article was published 11/03/2016 (3114 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

John Johnson received one of France’s highest honours Saturday for his service in the Second World War, but more than seven decades ago, his parents weren’t happy when he enlisted.

That’s because Johnson — who received a medal granting him the rank of Knight of the National Order of the Legion of Honour, an award created by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802 — was still two years too young to enlist when he signed up with the Cameron Highlanders of Canada Regiment in 1940.

“My mom and dad said ‘Yes, you can join the army,’ but they said it’s your decision,” the 92-year-old Johnson recalled Saturday in his room at Deer Lodge Centre.

“They said don’t come begging to get you out. And I didn’t. I went through it until April 1946, when I was honourably discharged.”

Johnson said even though he was barely 17, he wanted to join up because most of the rest of his friends, who were a bit older, had already signed up and shipped off.

“I tried the PPCLI (Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry), and they turned me away,” he said. “So I went to the Queen’s Own Camerons, and I had no trouble at all.”

Two years later, Johnson and his fellow troops were storming the beaches of Dieppe under heavy enemy fire Aug. 19, 1942, after a planned early-morning surprise attack became known.

“It was supposed to be a secret raid, but it was a moonlit night,” he said. “We also were spotted by a German convoy, which came upon us and notified the shore.

“We didn’t get a great welcome.”

Johnson said he was on the shore for nine hours before he was able to retreat with the surviving soldiers. About 3,300 of more than 6,000 troops were either killed, wounded or captured by the enemy.

“We left with what was left of us,” he said. “An awful lot were either killed or wounded. I still remember that moon. It was so bright that night.”

Two years later, Johnson was back battling the German army, this time as part of a unit fighting in Normandy as part of the D-Day operations. He was wounded in the leg and taken back to England to recover in hospital.

“It took a long time to walk again,” he said. “I never saw action again.”

After the war, Johnson got married, returned to Canada with his wife and had two sons.

‘We didn’t get a great welcome’– John Johnson on the Dieppe Raid

Johnson’s son, Robert, called the honour bestowed on his dad “pretty amazing.”

“It’s nice he is getting this recognition. For many years he never told me about the war — we heard nothing. But in recent years, he has been telling us some things.”

Bruno Burnichonat, Winnipeg’s French consul, said the honour can only be bestowed on a veteran who is still alive and who served in the D-Day campaign. He said the French government received the names of veterans who served in France from Canada’s Veterans Affairs Department.

“It is a great honour to be able to give these veterans the highest distinction of France,” he said. “The people in France do talk about the Canadians constantly. It doesn’t matter whether you are in Normandy or the south of France.”

Johnson said while his parents were unhappy about him enlisting, they were, of course, pleased when he returned.

“But my dog was even more pleased to see me,” he said about the Pomeranian cross. “He didn’t recognize me with my pack on, but as soon as I took it off, the dog was all over me.”

kevin.rollasan@freepress.mb.ca