Johnnie Trotman, pilot who flew ‘nuisance raids’ and bombed Berlin, Cologne and the Ruhr

He was awarded the DFC after landing his plane with its undercarriage retracted after suffering engine failure returning from Germany

Flight-Lieutenant Johnnie Trotman, who has died aged 102, flew 70 bomber operations in Wellingtons and Mosquitos, the latter with the Pathfinder Force, and was twice awarded the DFC.
When he joined 692 Squadron at the beginning of October 1944, the squadron was part of the force of fast, high-flying night raiders – the Light Night Striking Force (LNSF) – of No 8 (Pathfinder) Group. The Force made a name for itself with its regular journeys to Berlin, hitting the German capital again and again with 4,000lb “cookie” bombs.
The squadron flew “nuisance” raids to numerous targets as the main bomber force attacked a single target in force. The LNSF Mosquitos dropped bombs on various cities to divert the German night fighter force and to keep the citizens, particularly the factory workers, short of sleep.
Trotman’s first operation, on October 29, was to Cologne, and two nights later he went to Hamburg. When he was returning from Ludwigshafen on December 5, one engine failed and the second began to lose power. His emergency radio calls went unanswered, so he ordered his navigator to bale out and got ready to land in the American sector.
As Trotman prepared to abandon the aircraft he received a radio call and was able to land on an emergency forward airfield in Belgium with the undercarriage retracted and his fuel exhausted. Trotman was awarded an immediate DFC for “displaying commendable gallantry and outstanding skill”.
On February 5, Trotman and his navigator attacked Berlin, and over the next two months returned to the “Big City” 16 more times. They also went to Munich, Kassel and Bremen. After bombing Husum airfield on April 26, they hit Kiel on May 2, the last operation flown by Bomber Command. Allied troops entered the city 36 hours later.
A few weeks later, Trotman was awarded a Bar to his DFC while his navigator, Flying Officer Bernard Tubbs, added a DFC to his earlier DFM.
Percival John Povey Trotman (always known as Johnnie) was born on September 9 1921 in Winchester Hospital and educated at Aldershot County High School; when that was closed to boys he went to Farnborough Grammar School.
He was called up by the RAF in August 1940 and started pilot training. Assessed as above average when he gained his pilot’s wings, he trained to be an instructor on twin-engine Oxford aircraft.
In early 1942 he began converting to bombers. Towards the end of his course, the C-in-C of Bomber Command, Air Marshal Sir Arthur Harris, decided to launch 1,000 bombers against a target in Germany. To make up the numbers, he had to use some aircraft from the training units flown by students nearing the end of their course, and on May 30 1942 Trotman and his Wellington crew were detailed to join the force attacking Cologne, the first “One Thousand Bomber Raid”. Two nights later they were sent to Essen on the second such mission.
Deemed operational after two raids, Trotman and his crew were posted to 460 Squadron of the Royal Australian Air Force; three of Trotman’s five-man crew were Australians. The squadron flew Wellingtons from RAF Breighton, just north of the River Humber.
But within days, the squadron commanding officer met the crew and announced: “I don’t have Poms on my squadron,” and Trotman and his rear-gunner were sent to 150 Squadron at nearby RAF Snaith.
After three visits to Bremen, Trotman and his crew dropped mines in the sea approaches to the U-Boat base at St Nazaire. Flying at low level, they came under intense attack from anti-aircraft fire but escaped unscathed.
During the Battle of the Ruhr, Trotman flew four trips to Duisburg in July 1942. The pace of raids did not ease up until mid-August, by which time Trotman had completed 17 operations against the industrial targets in the Ruhr. But over Bremen his Wellington was hit by flak, injuring one of his crew and holing a fuel tank. With the tanks almost dry, Trotman coaxed the damaged bomber over the Yorkshire coast and crash-landed in a field. His rear gunner – and long-time friend – was killed.
After a period of “survivor’s leave”, Trotman and his crew returned to operations at the end of August, and over the next four weeks they flew 13 more times. On September 23 they returned to St Nazaire to drop more sea mines, completing their tour of 30 operations.
Trotman spent almost two years instructing at a bomber training unit before he volunteered to join Bomber Command’s Pathfinder Force, and in the summer of 1944 he converted to the twin-engine Mosquito before joining 692 Squadron operating from Graveley, near Huntingdon.
After leaving the RAF in early 1946, Trotman began working for Hoover, where he was one of the first managers to introduce dealer incentives, rising to become an executive salesman.
Trotman returned to flying after a trial flight to celebrate his 80th birthday. Aged 85, he gained his pilot’s licence, which he did not surrender until he was 100.
In June 2012 he joined his Bomber Command colleagues at the dedication of the Bomber Command Memorial in Green Park. He later featured in a Channel 4 film, The Plane that Saved Britain. He had recently published his memoir, J for Johnnie. Earlier this year, he travelled to Portsmouth for the D-Day 80th commemorations and was delighted to meet the King and Queen. He was also appointed to the Légion d’Honneur by the French government.
A wartime marriage was dissolved, and in December 1946 Johnny Trotman married his second wife, Joyce who died in 2002. In 2006 he married Olwen, who survives him with a son, a daughter and four stepsons. A second son predeceased him.
Johnnie Trotman, born September 9 1921, died August 27 2024