John Bicknell DFC
Sometime after December 1943 my mother, Dorothy Moram met a young flying officer with 21 Squadron after they had been moved to RAF Hunsdon, near Standon (in between Ware and Much Hadham, Hertfordshire) where they were equipped with the latest Mosqui-tos. The crews ( pilot and navigator) were hand picked to be trained with this specialist low flying squadron, that carried out one of the most daring raids of the War with its attack in February 1944 on Amiens Prison, called 'Operation Jericho'
John Bicknell was a larger than life character, dashing and gallant, and he was so charis-matic that he swept my mother off her feet and their whirlwind romance took everyone in Standon, only a small village community, by complete surprise. He wore a luxuriant and long handlebar moustache and a red tie with his uniform and this breach of the rules was accepted as pilots in the RAF were allowed to get away with pretty much anything they pleased as they were the cavaliers of the sky and so hugely important to national survival. His brother, Richard, maintains that he was a pretty eccentric individual and a card-carrying member of the Communist Party and that his party trick was apparently eating beer glasses!
April 17th 1944 , 21 Squadron moved to Thorney Island, Hampshire, and flew sorties in the Tactical Operations before D Day attaching marshalling yards and destroying the French railway system in Northern France. Then 21 Squadron was in action on and after D Day and the Squadron log book shows that Pilot Officer Bill Adams and Navigator John Bicknell flew ops as part of 'Operation Overlord' on July 3rd, 4th,7th & 8th July, seeing ac-tion in Northern France ahead of the advancing Allied Forces.
6th July "Weather stormy with lightning on the way to the target. 10 crews patrolled just ahead of the battle area and 6 crews patrolling further south in the Le Mans-Tours-Poitiers area."
When not flying somehow he obtained petrol coupons to drive back to meet his fiancee at her home in Standon, and they were married on 24th June 1944, in St Mary’s Church, Standon Hertfordshire.
The Squadron Log Book shows John Bicknell & Bill Adams (Mosquito NS 959) were shot down and killed in the early hours of 10th July 1944 :
Flying Officer J.C. Bicknell was killed when the aircraft he was Navigator on, crashed on landing back at Thorney Island. The pilot of the aircraft was Flight Lieutenant W.B. Adams; the aircraft se-rial number was NS959. According to the records they had bombed a ferry whilst on patrol over France.
The RAF diary shows that ops on the evening of 9th July lost one Mosquito : NS 959
Weather cloudy. Patrols were carried out in the Dourden-Tours-Poitiers area , Le Mans-Tours-Nioft and Le Mans-Angers-Nantes-La Roche areas. 15crews operated over these three areas. F/L Adams crashed on the aerodrome and both he and his navigator F/O Bicknell were killed.
John Bicknell and Dorothy Moram were married for just 16 days. His body was brought back from Hampshire andy the funeral took place in the same church where just three weeks earlier they had been married. The grave is maintained but the British War Graves Commission.
John Bicknell was born in 1921 in London; educated at King Edwards School, Witney, Sur-rey; home as of 1943 was given as Bristol. Commissioned from the ranks in 1942.
P/O John Conway Bicknell, No.226 Squadron, awarded DFC 20 April 1943 by King George V1 at Buckingham Palace. No citation in London Gazette; the following from Air Ministry Bulletin:
"Pilot Officer Bicknell is a cool, calculating navigator. He has taken part in a large number of sor-ties, including five sea searches, and has participated in several other operations. His work has been worthy of high praise".