We're well on our way...John Burns Mallett
By: C. Chad Martin
March 2, 2018 "Well, we're well on our way in the first tour of "Ops" and if the remainder go as well we shouldn't have any trouble finishing them." Ominous words written by John Burns Mallett the 25th of February, 1943. On their next Operational flight, the entire crew including Burns, would perish. When I started out researching the story of John Burns Mallett a number of years ago I had access to a fairly extensive amount of information about the air war during World War Two, I was able to slowly piece together some semblance of a service history for him, but I knew there was something missing. There had to be more to the story and I still needed to find it. That's when one of history's treasure troves came into my hands, luckily for me the family has maintained a tight knit relationship with its history, and was generous enough to let me borrow a non-descript shoe box full of the wondrous history I had been seeking for so long. Burns was born on the 11th of May, 1918. He was the third child to Fred and Mary Luella (Burns) Mallett. Named for his maternal grandfather John Burns who owned the neighboring farm to the Mallett homestead. Fred and Mary would have grown up together and likely been schoolyard sweethearts. Family was always a central pillar for the Mallett’s, but it was abruptly disrupted when Mary passed away of pneumonia a few months before Burns’ second birthday. Fred and the four young children at this point (Millicent, Charles, Burns and Frederick) would have been devastated, fortunately family and friends were certainly close by to help. Fred was fortunate in love again and married Mary Louisa Graham on New Years Day 1922 (Yes, another “Mary L.”, makes for a heck of a time for a researcher). Four more children would be added to the clan (Marion, Jean, Doris and Marjorie) and the family was complete. Growing up, Burns was a stellar student, beginning at S.S. No. 12 Wallace, a one room school house built on the corner of the Watt farm in 1877. From 1924 to 1930 Burns attended the school and graduated in all of his courses (except for Canadian History), he continued on at the Palmerston Continuation School from 1930 to 1935 and then attended Listowel High School for the 1935-36 school year. His areas of study included; trigonometry, geometry, algebra, English composition and literature as well as chemistry and mechanics. |
After he finished his schooling he seemed to have had some difficulty finding work, between 1937 and 1940 while he most likely helped with the family farm, he spent time as a farm hand for Norman Graham, then assisted William Speers and his beekeeping/honey business, then finally spending a few months doing a rural mail route for Bert Williams. When asked why he left his job in April of 1940 he noted that he left to enlist in the Galt Aircraft School, however, according to records he didn’t enlist there until August.
In the early days of the war the enlistment process for the Royal Canadian Air Force was very stringent, a requirement was to submit a minimum two letters of reference vouching for your abilities and personality. Burns was no different from any other recruit and handed in a letter from his former employer, Bert Williams who said he had a "character above reproach", but it is the letter from a family friend, Archie McEachern, that seems to encapsulate the real person Burns was:
To whom it may concern,
This is to certify that I have known Burns for all his life and have watched him growing into manhood, and developing those traits of character which will stand him in good stead through life, as I have watched Burns developing his level in moral standards, I have found him respecting, fair play, honesty, truth and justice, he is a boy of industry possessing, a will power that will bring him through to success, and in all his doings, he manifests an uprightness of thought.
Archie McEachern
After travelling to Cambridge, Burns enlisted on Friday the 9th of August, 1940. It’s not exactly clear why he selected this particular time to do it, but most likely it was due to the declaration by Adolf Hitler on the 1st of August that “The German Air Force is to overcome the British Air Force with all means at its disposal, and as soon as possible.” Only a few days later the Battle of Britain officially began.
Burns enlisted in the Galt Aircraft School (in present day Cambridge) which was a civilian operated school, to train as an Aero Engine Mechanic (A.E.M.), the trade was in high demand especially early on in the war as aircraft production was ramping up for the war effort. With the escalation of The Battle of Britain the Galt Aircraft School merged with the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan and Burns was shipped to Toronto where he began his training at No. 1 Manning Depot (air force boot camp) in mid-September, 1940.
An interesting note in his enlistment papers is that he ideally wanted to be an Aero Engine Mechanic, however written below his desired trade is “Will take pilots course if given opportunity”. This small marginal note may have been a major factor in where his path led him two years later.
Training progressed quickly for Burns, stationed at No. 6 Repair Depot in Trenton he went through the various levels of becoming an A.E.M.. By the 1st of April, 1941 he was promoted to Leading Air Craftsman with his A.E.M. Level B certification and given his disembarkation papers. By the 5th of April he was headed overseas to England, where he would be taken on strength with the Royal Canadian Air Force 402 “City of Winnipeg” Squadron, which at the time was one of only two Canadian fighter squadrons serving in England.
Burns worked on Hawker Hurricane fighter aircraft as the Squadron defended the coastal waters around Lincolnshire, operating out of RAF Station Digby. It was during this time he received his A Level Aero Engine Mechanic certification and was promoted to Corporal. He continued to work in the ground crew capacity until shortly after the squadron was moved to RAF Colerne and refitted with Supermarine Spitfires in March of 1942.
As a side note: this was also the same that Burns received his first and only reprimand while in the air force. Records state that he was caught by RAF Police for “not wearing a Field Service Cap when walking out in uniform at 09:05 hrs. on 25-2-42 at Waterloo.” For his actions he was confined to barracks for 5 days at the end of March, just prior to the next phase of his service career.
It was at this time he made the leap, applied and was accepted to a very new program for what would become known as Flight Engineers. With the Battle of Britain won, and the invasion of Europe long off, it was the decision of military planners to focus on the aerial front which could reach the heart of Germany and fight the war without having feet on the ground in Fortress Europa. Bomber Command led by Air Marshall Arthur Harris, pushed for the rapid development of new larger, more complex aircraft. Up to this point the largest aeroplanes were two engine bombers with a single pilot who handled all of the mechanical issues as they arose. However, new four engine aircraft such as the Handley-Page Halifax, Short Stirling and Avro Lancaster, meant that a pilot could not tend to the multitude of new mechanical issues.
A call was put out to Aero Engine Mechanics willing to change from ground crew to air crew and become the “on board mechanic”. The Flight Engineer program required a massive amount of training, they not only handled the smooth running of four 1,000hp engines but could also take over flying the aeroplane in emergency situations. The complexity and intensity of the training was only within the grasp of a very select few people.
From April to October of 1942 Burns went through a rigorous training regimen and earned his Flight Engineer wing. It was the 19th of October, 1942 he was sent to No. 1654 Conversion Unit where he would endure even more training on the new Avro Lancaster bombers, the largest bomber in the Allies air war offensive.
It was here at RAF Station Swinderby that Burns was attached to his flight crew which would serve together for the remainder of their service. Beginning on the 11th of November, 1942 the crew began flying together in Lancasters. With Pilot Officer James Greenan of Calgary taking the yolk and relying on Burns to man the engines. In a letter home, Burns described Greenan as “a very good skipper…and he can really fly an aeroplane, which means a lot.”
The crew honed their skills in a variety of aircraft at the conversion unit, learning the ins and outs of the massive bombers. Standard practice for many air crew would be to fill in with other crews that may be down a person for one reason or another. Burns did this on numerous occasions over his first month of flight training. Mostly their flights consisted of “circuits and bumps” (take offs and landings), cross-country navigation and fighter affiliations.
Beginning in December of 1942 the crew was sent to No. 57 RAF Squadron to begin preparing for their first series of Operational Flights. It was quite common in the early days for members of the Royal Canadian Air Force to be attached to Royal Air Force squadrons, as crews from the Commonwealth nations bolstered the ranks of the RAF leading up to the largest air offensive in the war to date.
The 7 man crew consisted of 3 Canadians, Sgt. Burns Mallett, Flight Officer John Greenan of Calgary, Flight Sgt. Fred “Muse” Music of Regina, and 4 members from England; Sgt. Frank “Dusty” Miller, Sgt. Henry “Bert” Turkentine , Sgt. Harold Ricketts and Sgt. Ronald Roberts.
After only a little more than a month of crew familiarization, it was time for Burns to experience his first Operational flight into enemy territory. Normally, as was the case for Burns, your first “Ops” would be a low importance target deemed relatively “safe”, and you would go with an experienced crew. Flying with Sgt. Hawkins’ on the 31st of December, 1942, as a crew in a Lancaster, they conducted Gardening (mine laying) at Cordouan, off the Southwest coast of France. 29 aircraft took part in the minelaying and 1 Wellington bomber didn’t return.
Every crews goal was to achieve the almost unheard of 30 Ops, where, ideally, they would be “retired” from flight duties and given a relatively quiet job in the air force (in most cases crews that achieved 30 Ops would be given a short leave and expected to start Ops again). Burns and crew began officially on their 2nd Ops, the 20th of January, 1943. Again, they conducted Gardening of the Frisian Islands, of the 70 aircraft that participated 6 did not return.
Only two days later and they were in the air again, but this time on a bombing operation over Dusseldorf, heavy cloud cover made it nearly impossible to see anything and the target was completely missed. Not one to let that go, they were sent up again to Dusseldorf on the 27th of January, this time benefitting from a new target marking technology used by the famous Pathfinders, the target was successfully hit inflicting significant damage.
Their 5th Ops was intended for Hamburg, however hydraulic issues forced the crew to abort and return to base early. The next day they were off to Cologne, which was successfully targeted. The 6th Ops offers us a little more connection to home, as this was when news got back to Palmerston about Burns and his exploits in fighting the air war. The Palmerston Observer printed a clip saying “Canadians were among the crews R.A.F. Lancasters which hammered the German naval base at Wilhelmshaven in a British Bomber raid. Among them were Johnnie Mallett of Palmerston, flight engineer...”
Next, was for the time, the largest raid completed by Bomber Command, 466 aircraft including the Greenan crew attacked Lorient with success. However, the next day, the crew was put through probably one of their most uncomfortable missions, public relations.
It was on the 14th of February, 1943 a group of photographers descended upon 57 Squadron, the Greenan crew were selected as the cream of the crop to be their models. Showing the handsome, dashing airmen of the RAF from all over the Commonwealth, the crew posed for pictures eating their breakfast, kitting up for their next Operation and standing in front of a shiny new Lancaster, all with big smiles. As in most cases this would have been taking them away from their preparation duties, and most certainly their need to mentally prepare for an upcoming stressful night. All of this was in the attempt to help recruitment and show how great the air force was in those trying times. While we get to enjoy those photographs today, it is certain the crew would not have been happy to be a part of this endeavour when Milan was the target that very night.
Fortunately, they were given a week off after the raid on Milan, but it was Ops #9, a raid on Bremen where Burns notes in his logbook that they had a close brush with disaster, he states “Diverted to Leeming, Aircraft Unserviceable from Flak”. Essentially meaning they had to make an emergency landing because their aircraft sustained such heavy damage from enemy defenses, however Greenan and crew skillfully nursed the Lancaster safely home.
The 10th Ops on Nuremburg was an uneventful and dismal attempt to bomb through poor weather and without proper target marking by the Pathfinders. It was the morning after that Burns wrote his final letter home and said those fateful words “"we're well on our way in the first tour of "Ops" and if the remainder go as well we shouldn't have any trouble finishing them."
Little did he know that the next Ops would be the dreaded “Big City”, Berlin. The crews knew it would come eventually, and Bomber Command was looking to not only hit the German capital, but hit it hard. Berlin was a hornets nest of anti-aircraft guns, search lights, night fighters and anything else that could be thrown at an incoming force. 302 aircraft were sent in to inflict as much damage as possible, targets across much of Berlin’s industrial areas were hit and remarkably only 19 aircraft were lost. Burns and crew somehow made it safely back across the English Channel.
Upon returning to base around 2 am the 2nd of March, according to official records the crew was preparing to land, as they began their approach to the airfield they struck high tension wires used to hold barrage balloons (a ground defense tool) approximately 3 miles from the airfield, the resulting damage caused the aircraft to careen into the ground killing all seven members of the crew. Rescue crews attempted to extract the men, but it was too late and the damage was too extensive for anyone to have survived.
The crew was given a full military funeral only a few days later and buried at the local parish St. John Baptist Churchyard, Scampton, Lincolnshire. The family was informed almost immediately; telegrams and letters from the RAF, RCAF, Canadian government, Squadron Commanders, Chaplains and even the Town of Palmerston flooded in over the next few weeks. The constant reminders arriving in the mail must have been devastating for the entire family and community.
A letter on the 10th of March from the 57 Squadron Wing Commander, put a shroud of mystery over the death of the crew. He wrote to the family that “I have withheld writing to you in the hope that some explanation of the accident might be found but I am afraid that this has not materialized. It is known that the aircraft struck high tension cables immediately prior to the crash but there is no evidence to show that this was the primary cause of the accident.”
Later that fall Fred and family received a letter from Mrs. Mary Greenan, the mother of Flight Officer John Greenan, in the letter she says that one of her sons pallbearers wrote her saying that it is believed an aircraft from another squadron was on the same flight path for some unknown reason, and hadn’t seen the other Lancaster. The aircraft collided sending Greenan and crew into the high tension wires and ultimately their death. Whatever came of that aircraft, its crew or whether it suffered any damage is not known and likely never will be. Depending on the who was on that crew, or possibly in an attempt to avoid the scandal of “poor airmanship” in the newspapers, the details of a collision may have been quietly brushed under the rug.
Despite not knowing exactly what happened to end the life of John Burns Mallett, it can be easily said that he was someone of remarkable character and intelligence. His aptitude for “all things mechanical” put him at the top of his class in almost everything he set his mind to. His family must have been very proud of him, as well as the community. He stood out as an integral member of his crew, squadron and air force. His loss rippled through the community and had a profound long lasting effect on the family. It is unfortunate not knowing what potential he could have had with a longer life, but it’s pretty certain he would have made his hometown just as proud.
In the early days of the war the enlistment process for the Royal Canadian Air Force was very stringent, a requirement was to submit a minimum two letters of reference vouching for your abilities and personality. Burns was no different from any other recruit and handed in a letter from his former employer, Bert Williams who said he had a "character above reproach", but it is the letter from a family friend, Archie McEachern, that seems to encapsulate the real person Burns was:
To whom it may concern,
This is to certify that I have known Burns for all his life and have watched him growing into manhood, and developing those traits of character which will stand him in good stead through life, as I have watched Burns developing his level in moral standards, I have found him respecting, fair play, honesty, truth and justice, he is a boy of industry possessing, a will power that will bring him through to success, and in all his doings, he manifests an uprightness of thought.
Archie McEachern
After travelling to Cambridge, Burns enlisted on Friday the 9th of August, 1940. It’s not exactly clear why he selected this particular time to do it, but most likely it was due to the declaration by Adolf Hitler on the 1st of August that “The German Air Force is to overcome the British Air Force with all means at its disposal, and as soon as possible.” Only a few days later the Battle of Britain officially began.
Burns enlisted in the Galt Aircraft School (in present day Cambridge) which was a civilian operated school, to train as an Aero Engine Mechanic (A.E.M.), the trade was in high demand especially early on in the war as aircraft production was ramping up for the war effort. With the escalation of The Battle of Britain the Galt Aircraft School merged with the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan and Burns was shipped to Toronto where he began his training at No. 1 Manning Depot (air force boot camp) in mid-September, 1940.
An interesting note in his enlistment papers is that he ideally wanted to be an Aero Engine Mechanic, however written below his desired trade is “Will take pilots course if given opportunity”. This small marginal note may have been a major factor in where his path led him two years later.
Training progressed quickly for Burns, stationed at No. 6 Repair Depot in Trenton he went through the various levels of becoming an A.E.M.. By the 1st of April, 1941 he was promoted to Leading Air Craftsman with his A.E.M. Level B certification and given his disembarkation papers. By the 5th of April he was headed overseas to England, where he would be taken on strength with the Royal Canadian Air Force 402 “City of Winnipeg” Squadron, which at the time was one of only two Canadian fighter squadrons serving in England.
Burns worked on Hawker Hurricane fighter aircraft as the Squadron defended the coastal waters around Lincolnshire, operating out of RAF Station Digby. It was during this time he received his A Level Aero Engine Mechanic certification and was promoted to Corporal. He continued to work in the ground crew capacity until shortly after the squadron was moved to RAF Colerne and refitted with Supermarine Spitfires in March of 1942.
As a side note: this was also the same that Burns received his first and only reprimand while in the air force. Records state that he was caught by RAF Police for “not wearing a Field Service Cap when walking out in uniform at 09:05 hrs. on 25-2-42 at Waterloo.” For his actions he was confined to barracks for 5 days at the end of March, just prior to the next phase of his service career.
It was at this time he made the leap, applied and was accepted to a very new program for what would become known as Flight Engineers. With the Battle of Britain won, and the invasion of Europe long off, it was the decision of military planners to focus on the aerial front which could reach the heart of Germany and fight the war without having feet on the ground in Fortress Europa. Bomber Command led by Air Marshall Arthur Harris, pushed for the rapid development of new larger, more complex aircraft. Up to this point the largest aeroplanes were two engine bombers with a single pilot who handled all of the mechanical issues as they arose. However, new four engine aircraft such as the Handley-Page Halifax, Short Stirling and Avro Lancaster, meant that a pilot could not tend to the multitude of new mechanical issues.
A call was put out to Aero Engine Mechanics willing to change from ground crew to air crew and become the “on board mechanic”. The Flight Engineer program required a massive amount of training, they not only handled the smooth running of four 1,000hp engines but could also take over flying the aeroplane in emergency situations. The complexity and intensity of the training was only within the grasp of a very select few people.
From April to October of 1942 Burns went through a rigorous training regimen and earned his Flight Engineer wing. It was the 19th of October, 1942 he was sent to No. 1654 Conversion Unit where he would endure even more training on the new Avro Lancaster bombers, the largest bomber in the Allies air war offensive.
It was here at RAF Station Swinderby that Burns was attached to his flight crew which would serve together for the remainder of their service. Beginning on the 11th of November, 1942 the crew began flying together in Lancasters. With Pilot Officer James Greenan of Calgary taking the yolk and relying on Burns to man the engines. In a letter home, Burns described Greenan as “a very good skipper…and he can really fly an aeroplane, which means a lot.”
The crew honed their skills in a variety of aircraft at the conversion unit, learning the ins and outs of the massive bombers. Standard practice for many air crew would be to fill in with other crews that may be down a person for one reason or another. Burns did this on numerous occasions over his first month of flight training. Mostly their flights consisted of “circuits and bumps” (take offs and landings), cross-country navigation and fighter affiliations.
Beginning in December of 1942 the crew was sent to No. 57 RAF Squadron to begin preparing for their first series of Operational Flights. It was quite common in the early days for members of the Royal Canadian Air Force to be attached to Royal Air Force squadrons, as crews from the Commonwealth nations bolstered the ranks of the RAF leading up to the largest air offensive in the war to date.
The 7 man crew consisted of 3 Canadians, Sgt. Burns Mallett, Flight Officer John Greenan of Calgary, Flight Sgt. Fred “Muse” Music of Regina, and 4 members from England; Sgt. Frank “Dusty” Miller, Sgt. Henry “Bert” Turkentine , Sgt. Harold Ricketts and Sgt. Ronald Roberts.
After only a little more than a month of crew familiarization, it was time for Burns to experience his first Operational flight into enemy territory. Normally, as was the case for Burns, your first “Ops” would be a low importance target deemed relatively “safe”, and you would go with an experienced crew. Flying with Sgt. Hawkins’ on the 31st of December, 1942, as a crew in a Lancaster, they conducted Gardening (mine laying) at Cordouan, off the Southwest coast of France. 29 aircraft took part in the minelaying and 1 Wellington bomber didn’t return.
Every crews goal was to achieve the almost unheard of 30 Ops, where, ideally, they would be “retired” from flight duties and given a relatively quiet job in the air force (in most cases crews that achieved 30 Ops would be given a short leave and expected to start Ops again). Burns and crew began officially on their 2nd Ops, the 20th of January, 1943. Again, they conducted Gardening of the Frisian Islands, of the 70 aircraft that participated 6 did not return.
Only two days later and they were in the air again, but this time on a bombing operation over Dusseldorf, heavy cloud cover made it nearly impossible to see anything and the target was completely missed. Not one to let that go, they were sent up again to Dusseldorf on the 27th of January, this time benefitting from a new target marking technology used by the famous Pathfinders, the target was successfully hit inflicting significant damage.
Their 5th Ops was intended for Hamburg, however hydraulic issues forced the crew to abort and return to base early. The next day they were off to Cologne, which was successfully targeted. The 6th Ops offers us a little more connection to home, as this was when news got back to Palmerston about Burns and his exploits in fighting the air war. The Palmerston Observer printed a clip saying “Canadians were among the crews R.A.F. Lancasters which hammered the German naval base at Wilhelmshaven in a British Bomber raid. Among them were Johnnie Mallett of Palmerston, flight engineer...”
Next, was for the time, the largest raid completed by Bomber Command, 466 aircraft including the Greenan crew attacked Lorient with success. However, the next day, the crew was put through probably one of their most uncomfortable missions, public relations.
It was on the 14th of February, 1943 a group of photographers descended upon 57 Squadron, the Greenan crew were selected as the cream of the crop to be their models. Showing the handsome, dashing airmen of the RAF from all over the Commonwealth, the crew posed for pictures eating their breakfast, kitting up for their next Operation and standing in front of a shiny new Lancaster, all with big smiles. As in most cases this would have been taking them away from their preparation duties, and most certainly their need to mentally prepare for an upcoming stressful night. All of this was in the attempt to help recruitment and show how great the air force was in those trying times. While we get to enjoy those photographs today, it is certain the crew would not have been happy to be a part of this endeavour when Milan was the target that very night.
Fortunately, they were given a week off after the raid on Milan, but it was Ops #9, a raid on Bremen where Burns notes in his logbook that they had a close brush with disaster, he states “Diverted to Leeming, Aircraft Unserviceable from Flak”. Essentially meaning they had to make an emergency landing because their aircraft sustained such heavy damage from enemy defenses, however Greenan and crew skillfully nursed the Lancaster safely home.
The 10th Ops on Nuremburg was an uneventful and dismal attempt to bomb through poor weather and without proper target marking by the Pathfinders. It was the morning after that Burns wrote his final letter home and said those fateful words “"we're well on our way in the first tour of "Ops" and if the remainder go as well we shouldn't have any trouble finishing them."
Little did he know that the next Ops would be the dreaded “Big City”, Berlin. The crews knew it would come eventually, and Bomber Command was looking to not only hit the German capital, but hit it hard. Berlin was a hornets nest of anti-aircraft guns, search lights, night fighters and anything else that could be thrown at an incoming force. 302 aircraft were sent in to inflict as much damage as possible, targets across much of Berlin’s industrial areas were hit and remarkably only 19 aircraft were lost. Burns and crew somehow made it safely back across the English Channel.
Upon returning to base around 2 am the 2nd of March, according to official records the crew was preparing to land, as they began their approach to the airfield they struck high tension wires used to hold barrage balloons (a ground defense tool) approximately 3 miles from the airfield, the resulting damage caused the aircraft to careen into the ground killing all seven members of the crew. Rescue crews attempted to extract the men, but it was too late and the damage was too extensive for anyone to have survived.
The crew was given a full military funeral only a few days later and buried at the local parish St. John Baptist Churchyard, Scampton, Lincolnshire. The family was informed almost immediately; telegrams and letters from the RAF, RCAF, Canadian government, Squadron Commanders, Chaplains and even the Town of Palmerston flooded in over the next few weeks. The constant reminders arriving in the mail must have been devastating for the entire family and community.
A letter on the 10th of March from the 57 Squadron Wing Commander, put a shroud of mystery over the death of the crew. He wrote to the family that “I have withheld writing to you in the hope that some explanation of the accident might be found but I am afraid that this has not materialized. It is known that the aircraft struck high tension cables immediately prior to the crash but there is no evidence to show that this was the primary cause of the accident.”
Later that fall Fred and family received a letter from Mrs. Mary Greenan, the mother of Flight Officer John Greenan, in the letter she says that one of her sons pallbearers wrote her saying that it is believed an aircraft from another squadron was on the same flight path for some unknown reason, and hadn’t seen the other Lancaster. The aircraft collided sending Greenan and crew into the high tension wires and ultimately their death. Whatever came of that aircraft, its crew or whether it suffered any damage is not known and likely never will be. Depending on the who was on that crew, or possibly in an attempt to avoid the scandal of “poor airmanship” in the newspapers, the details of a collision may have been quietly brushed under the rug.
Despite not knowing exactly what happened to end the life of John Burns Mallett, it can be easily said that he was someone of remarkable character and intelligence. His aptitude for “all things mechanical” put him at the top of his class in almost everything he set his mind to. His family must have been very proud of him, as well as the community. He stood out as an integral member of his crew, squadron and air force. His loss rippled through the community and had a profound long lasting effect on the family. It is unfortunate not knowing what potential he could have had with a longer life, but it’s pretty certain he would have made his hometown just as proud.