page_title: George Owen Johnson
section_title: World War II service
hierarchical_section_title: George Owen Johnson / Military career / World War II service
caption_attribution_description: English: At RAF Middleton St. George, RCAF Air Vice-Marshal Clifford Mackay “Black Mike” McEwen, commander of 6 Group (foreground), Air Vice-Marshal Arthur “Bomber” Harris (middle) and RCAF Air Marshal G.O. Johnson, AOC RCAF Overseas (background) wave goodbye to the first of 141 Canadian Lancasters departing for Canada. A/V/M McEwen was a First World War fighter pilot with 22 aerial victories. One of the Lancs destined to join Tiger Force was Lancaster KB999, the 300th Canadian-built Lancaster. When it came off the assembly line in Malton, Ontario, Victory Aircraft Corporation production staff dedicated this aircraft to McEwen and had his pennant painted on the nose with the words “Malton Mike”. After the end of the war, KB999 was assigned to the RCAF’s 405 Vancouver Squadron and flew A/V/M McEwan to Canada on June 17, 1945. PHOTO: Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection
context_page_description: Air Marshal George Owen Johnson CB, MC was a Canadian aviator, World War I Flying Ace and a senior commander in the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II.
context_section_description: He was made Air Member for Organization and Training (October 1939) and began work on creating and executing the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. During this period he was an early and enthusiastic supporter of the creation of the Royal Canadian Air Force Women's Division, although the idea did not become operational until July 1940.
  He then served as Deputy Chief of Air Staff (November 1940). In 1941, he was instrumental in framing and negotiating the agreement with the RAF that led to the creation of Canadian Air Groups (as opposed to just squadrons), allowing RCAF officers overseas staff command experience. In September 1941, he made a national broadcast on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation updating Canadians on the progress and growth of the BCATP and the development of the Northwest Staging Route, the string of air stations used to supply Alaska and ferry aircraft to Russia. He was also instrumental in retaining Canadian command of Eastern Air Command, the Royal Canadian Air Force units patrolling the Western Atlantic. When “Admiral H.R. Stark, Chief of (US) Naval Operations in Washington, wrote to the Canadian Chief of Air Staff inviting him "to place such air forces as are assigned to perform ocean escort duty under the command, for this purpose only, of the Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, this action to be taken under the authority and subject to the limitations contained in ABC-22...". The Canadian Cabinet War Committee felt that since the navy was obliged to accept American command for oceanic convoy work the RCAF ought to do so as well. The only objection that would be considered was one on operational grounds. The Deputy Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice-Marshal G.O. Johnson, therefore argued that since the RCAF now operated very successfully in co-operation with, rather than under the control of, the RN and RCN there was no need to adopt different relationships with the USN.”
  He was promoted to Acting Air Marshal while deputized for the Chief of the Air Staff during the Ottawa Conference held in May and June 1942 where he was in charge of the arrangements and the planning of material for discussion. The result of the conference was an extension of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan to see it through the end of the war, and the entry of the Americans into the plan.
  He was appointed AOC No.1 Training Command of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan in July 1942. On August 7, 1942 his service record was amended to note he had been awarded the "Polish Air Force Pilots Badge"
  He then became AOC RCAF Eastern Air Command in January 1943. This time is widely considered the turning point in the Battle of the Atlantic when allied tactics and technology combined to turn the tide against the U-Boats. After taking command from AVM Cuffe, Johnson restructured relationships with the RCN and American forces, integrated new technology into the command (VLR Liberators, acoustic sonobuoys, homing torpedoes, enigma intercepts, radio direction finding sets, improved radars) to decisive effect. After the Atlantic Convoy Conference in spring 1943, he assumed “General Operational Control” in of all Allied Air Forces in the Canadian sector of the Western Atlantic, in a model considered a forerunner of the current Canadian/USA model of strategic cooperation. This was partly a result of Johnson's work both as DCAS RCAF and AOC EAC. “The creation of the Canadian Northwest Atlantic Command was a significant accomplishment in Canada’s military history. It marked the first time Canadian naval and Air Force commanders had commander in chief status in an active theatre of war.” In August 1943, F/O Howes made the first trans-Atlantic patrol flight in a VLR Liberator closing the ‘air gap’. By late 1944 the ‘Battle of the Atlantic’ was considered won. Writing shortly after the war ended, Admiral Karl Dônitz noted that it was the "enemy air force" that was "the greatest problem for the U-boat command." 
  He became AOC-in-C RCAF Overseas in April 1945, serving to July 1946. He was occupied with completing the plans to 
caption: Waving off Tiger Force. At RAF Middleton St. George, RCAF Air Vice-Marshal Clifford Mackay “Black Mike” McEwen, commander of 6 Group (foreground), Air Vice-Marshal Arthur “Bomber” Harris (middle) and RCAF Air Marshal G.O. Johnson, AOC-in-C RCAF Overseas (background) wave goodbye to the first of 141 Canadian Lancasters departing for Canada. PHOTO: Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection
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