An emigrant from Filey, John had not lived in his home town since the time of the Great War and was a citizen of South Africa when the Second World War broke out.  He and his wife, Mrs. C.W. Williamson lived in Maitland, an area in Cape Town whilst his parents John and Frances Williamson still lived in Filey.

          John belonged to the South African Air Force (S.A.A.F.) and spent his entire military career as a flyer.  This included two years at the end of the Great War as a member of the Royal Flying Corps and later as it became the R.A.F in both France and also German East Africa.  Some time after the start of WWII John re-enlisted into the S.A.A.F. where he spent most of the war flying vitally needed supply trips between Cape Town and Cairo, at the heart of the British North Africa Campaign.  In mid 1943 John’s plane crashed on landing in Cape Town, killing John and the rest of the crew.