Flight Sergeant (Air Gunner)
Jonathan Harvey Walton
Flight Sergeant Jonathan Harvey Walton was born to Jonathan and Catherine (nee Payne) Walton on November 8th, 1910 in Wrexham, Wales. The Waltons were members of the Church of England. Jonathan was the youngest of 6 children; his siblings were William, Sarah, Catherine, Thomas and Julia. A bit of a daredevil, at age 13 he had a motorcycle accident and carried some minor facial scars for the rest of his life.
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Jonathan’s early career included working as a mechanics apprentice and as a farm labourer, but he found his calling as the Mill Superintendent at the Queens Gold Mine in Molega Mines where he held the position for seven years until he enlisted. Jonathan married Ethel (nee Kerr) on December 23rd, 1937. Jonathan stood 5 feet 6 ½ inches tall (169 cm) weighed 134 pounds (61 kg), and had brown eyes and brown hair.
Jonathan enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) on November 6th, 1941, just shy of his 31st birthday, and was assigned Service number R137620. A month later while awaiting training, he and Ethel lost a baby girl during childbirth.
Jonathan enlisted as aircrew and went through a rigorous process to determine which position he would occupy onboard an RCAF aircraft. Although “his loyalty and desire are above reproach”, he was found to have considerable nystagmus (a vision condition in which the eyes make repetitive, uncontrolled movements) which ruled out becoming a pilot, and he was selected as an Air Gunner, with a rank of Observer while in training.
On completion of Air Gunner training on August 14th, 1942, he was awarded his Air Gunner Badge and promoted to Flight Sergeant (Air Gunner), and began training on the Halifax Bomber. On November 11th, 1942, Flight Sergeant Walton was assigned to RCAF 408 Squadron and began flying bombing sorties over Europe. Squadrons were rapidly reformulating as new aircraft types were coming online, and Flight Sergeant Walton was posted to 427 Squadron on May 12th, 1943 to continue employment as a Halifax Bomber Air Gunner.
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On the night of June 24th, 1943 Flight Sergeant Walton’s crew was shot down over Rosenburg, Germany by a German Fighter pilot during a night bombing raid. Flight Sergeant Jonathan Walton perished in the crash along with three of his crewmates. Two others were captured as prisoners of war and were repatriated two years later. His official date of death is June 25th, 1943; he was 32 years old. Because the bomber went down behind enemy lines, the RCAF would not learn the fate of specific crew members until after the war, two years later.
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On June 26th, the RCAF sent a telegram to Flight Sergeant Walton’s wife Ethel to inform her that her husband “was reported missing after air operations overseas”. Although not in his files, Ethel would have also received a subsequent letter to state that he was presumed killed in action, and another letter confirming his fate when his remains were recovered.
Flight Sergeant Walton left his estate to his wife, Ethel. She was also given his War Medals, which included the 1939-45 Star, the Air Crew Europe Star, the Defence Medal, the War Medal, and the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal (with Clasp). It is not mentioned in the file, but Flight Sergeant Walton’s wife Ethel, and mother Catherine, would have been awarded the Memorial Cross Medal (also known as the Silver Cross). After the war, on September 5th, 1946, the RCAF sent Ethel a letter along with a certificate and his Operational Wings “in recognition of the gallant services rendered by your husband, Flight Sergeant J.H. Walton”. In the tributes on her obituary web page, there's mention that Ethel placed a wreath in his honour every Remembrance Day, until she passed away in 2018, aged 106.
The aircraft and the deceased aircrew were rediscovered in 1967. Flight Sergeant Walton’s remains were recovered and he is interred at Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery and Memorial. He is interred in Plot 19, Row E, Grave 13, and his headstone is inscribed with “SOME CORNER OF A FOREIGN FIELD THAT IS FOR EVER ENGLAND”. Corporal Lester Hanley and Private William Seldon rest in the same cemetery.
Flight Sergeant Jonathan Harvey Walton is commemorated on page 224 of the World War Two Book of Remembrance. He is also listed on the Caledonia Cenotaph.
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Online References
Second World War Personnel Records Database (file download size 14,5 Meg) - https://recherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/Home/Record?app=kia&IdNumber=36976&ecopy=44486_273022002859_0413-00097
War Grave Search – https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2964967/jonathan-harvey-walton/
Local Grave Search - https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/12905339/jonathan-harvey-walton
Canadian Virtual War Memorial - https://www.veterans.gc.ca/en/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/detail/2964967?Jonathan%20Harvey%20Walton
https://caspir.warplane.com/pdoc/pn/600020881/
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