Episode 026 - The Gentleman Next Door, The John Wilkinson Story - OGTA #9

Episode 026 – The Gentleman Next Door, The John Wilkinson Story – OGTA #9

Episode 26: The Gentleman Next Door – The John Wilkinson Story

What if the quiet, kind man next door turned out to be a WWII fighter ace with a front-row seat to history? In this moving episode of American Warrior Radio, host Bruce Huffman introduces us to John Wilkinson, a man whose gentle demeanor masked a life of courage, combat, and witness to humanity’s darkest hours.

A British pilot trained in America, John took to the skies in a Spitfire, becoming one with the aircraft he could “toss around like a toy.” From dogfights and strafing missions to shooting down a V1 “doodlebug” rocket, John displayed deadly precision in the cockpit. Whether it was hitting the boiler of a German train or taking out enemy officers in a speeding staff car, he was a marksman and a warrior—but also a man who carried knives and silk maps not for glory, but to survive crash landings and stay alive.

After the war, John would be stationed near Bergen-Belsen, where he saw firsthand the horrors of the Holocaust. The sight of starving, skeletal prisoners haunted him and forever changed how he viewed life, war, and duty.

Despite his combat record, John remained humble and soft-spoken. He rarely discussed the stress or danger with fellow pilots, a quiet resilience that defined his generation. Looking back, he simply said his life was “well lived.”

This episode is more than a war story—it’s a reminder that history lives all around us, often disguised in the people we least expect. As Huffman puts it, “When an old man dies, a library burns.” So ask questions. Listen deeply. You never know when you might be talking to an aerial knight.

More information on Episode 026 – The Gentleman Next Door, The John Wilkinson Story – OGTA #9

Episode 26: John Wilkinson – The Gentleman Next Door Was an Aerial Knight

In Episode 26 of American Warrior Radio, we’re reminded that you can’t always tell someone’s incredible life story just by looking at them. While some people might just see John Wilkinson as a charming man with an infectious giggle, host Bruce Huffman encourages us to “go beyond the veneer” and ask questions. If you do, you’ll discover John was a warrior, an aerial knight of World War II, and an eyewitness to some of humanity’s greatest evils.

John was British and came to America to learn to fly. The British government paid for his training, and he felt the Americans did a great job teaching him. He soloed very early, after just 8 hours of flight time, which is significantly less than the 40 hours required today. John had watched the Battle of Britain from the ground, so he knew the stakes. He developed a deep connection with his aircraft, particularly the Spitfire, feeling like he became “one with that machine” in the cockpit. He loved being able to “toss it around like a toy”.

He carried several significant items during the war, including a Russian tag worn around his neck because if forced down behind Russian lines, they might shoot first and ask questions later. He also had unopened silk maps containing a small knife for cutting himself loose if hung up in a tree. He kept a short knife or shiv strapped to his shin inside his boot for the same purpose.

From his billet overlooking the Romney Marshes, John and his fellow airmen would watch the incoming V1 rockets (dubbed “doodlebugs”) and the coastal guns firing at them. If a V1 was hit, it would explode right in front of them, and they would watch it before ducking behind a low wall to avoid the blast wave, describing it as “sport”. Later, positioned behind the British army lines, he witnessed the horrors of the Bergen-Belsen death camp. He saw the gate and the prisoners, whom he described as “walking skeletons,” feeling it was awful to see them. He also saw the documentation and photos taken by the press who were staying with them.

As a fighter pilot, John proved to be an incredibly effective combatant. Looking at his gun camera footage, the host noted that John was a “killer,” a “marksman”. He enjoyed shooting at trains, aiming for the cylinder at the front of the engine because it was hard for the Germans to replace. The satisfying result was seeing a big cloud of steam when the boiler was hit. He only targeted personnel once, specifically high-ranking officers in a staff car, viewing them as the ones running the war. Poor truck drivers, he felt, were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. On one memorable occasion, he strafed a truck that turned out to be full of landmines, causing the biggest explosion he had ever seen and forcing him to pull away sharply to avoid shrapnel. He also successfully shot down a V1 rocket east of Ashford. He first attempted the preferred method of flying beside it and flipping its wing to topple its gyros, but when that failed, he got behind it and fired, the recoil from his guns slowing him down, but he hit it, causing it to roll over and explode in a field. He was too close but was unharmed.

Reflecting on his time as a young fighter pilot, facing the stress of not knowing if he would see the next day, John feels that, on the whole, his life has been “well lived”. He notes they never talked about the stress among themselves. The episode highlights the old quote, “When an old man dies a library burns,” lamenting the loss of memories, experiences, wisdom, and knowledge when these stories aren’t shared or sought out. The host, though his meeting with John was brief, read John’s book and wished he could learn more about his English upbringing and Christian faith. The episode concludes with a powerful call to action: “check out the libraries in your life” – encouraging listeners to seek out and listen to the stories of the people around them.

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