When one thinks of the traditional straightforward, quiet hero of World War II, Robert Samuel Johnson is someone who naturally comes to mind. Bob Johnson served with the 56th Fighter Group, known on both sides of the Channel as ‘Zemke’s Wolfpack, so named for its colorful leader, Lieutenant Colonel Hubert Zemke. That group would produce some of the highest-scoring fighter pilots in the U.S. Army Air Forces during the war in Europe–including Johnson, with 27 aerial victories.

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Johnson frequently has traveled around the country educating young people about the reasons for America’s involvement in World War II. In this way he has preserved interest in the men who fought; he makes us remember the sacrifices of those who never returned, regardless of their nationality.

The interview was conducted before his death in December 1998.

Military History: Tell us some details of your family and childhood.

Johnson: I was born on February 21, 1920, in Lawton in southwestern Oklahoma, 52 miles north of the Red River. I had no siblings. I went through high school, plus two years of junior college at Cameron College, which is now Cameron University. I majored in engineering, did some boxing and played football. As for further education, I joined the Army Air Forces in World War II, where I went through several courses. I never had any further schooling.

MH: How did you develop your interest in flying?

Johnson: I was sitting on my dad’s shoulders at Post Field near Lawton one day. I had always been, as most kids were in those days, interested in becoming a cowboy or a railroad engineer. I was at this airshow given by the military in 1928 with the old fabric-covered biplanes. They had three little fighters in a V-formation, and they did all kinds of stunts, twisting and turning below 5,000 feet. Then and there I changed my goal from cowboy or engineer to Army aviator. I started flying when I was 13 and got my first license, which I still have, the day before I turned 16. As soon as the civilian pilot training program was started, about 1939 or 1940, I went through that. I borrowed money from the dean of the college, and I paid him back with interest. Then came the time when Adolf Hitler was overrunning all of Europe, so our football team went Army, Navy, Army Air Forces and Marines, everywhere. I went through Sikeston, Missouri, for primary training, flying open-cockpit Stearmans in about 5 degrees below zero in December 1941. I then went to Randolph Field for the next session, and then to Kelly Field near San Antonio, Texas, for the final training. I initially trained as a bomber pilot, thank God, because we ended up in England, where we had to fly instruments and in close formation. I had no gunnery training except for my little .22-caliber rifle, shooting rabbits from the fender of a Model T Ford. Well, upon graduation I requested Douglas A-20 Havoc bombers, with duty near home at Oklahoma City. My second choice was Seattle, Washington, and third choice was Florida. I got Republic P-47s in Connecticut. Wherever the people are needed, that’s where the bodies go! Well, I was just tickled to death, and we were the first ones to get P-47 Thunderbolts.

MH: Which model of the P-47 were you flying?

Johnson: The B model, which killed a couple of boys in training. Then we went to the C and later D models. We left the United States on January 5, 1943, and arrived in England on the original Queen Elizabeth liner on about January 13. Our planes were given to the 4th Fighter Group, whose three squadrons had already been in the war as the Eagle Squadrons, flying Supermarine Spitfires for the Royal Air Force. We instructed them on how to fly our planes, they showed us a little bit about combat, and later we received our own planes.

MH: When was your first mission in the P-47B?

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