Mallon, John

John Charles Mallon was born 14 September 1916, the son of Alexander and Dora Christabel Mallon from Bell Block, Taranaki.

He was educated at New Plymouth Boy's High School before working as a motor engineer in New Plymouth. He joined the Civil Reserve as a pilot in 1938 and received his initial flying instruction at Bell Block.

He then joined the RAF and left for England on 15 June 1939. The Bell Block community organised a dance to farewell him on 2 June 1939 and presented him with a leather wallet. John thanked the community for the gift which he said would remind him of his many friends.

In England he received further training before he was posted to 53 Squadron in France in May 1940. Between May and October 1940 John was involved in 43 operational flights, including the evacuation of the British forces from the beaches of Dunkirk on 26 May 1940.

His aircraft was shot down on 8 October 1940 during a strike on shipping at Gravelines, France. He and his crew were first classified as missing. Later, information received through International Red Cross, indicated that John was a POW and had been injured, but a few weeks later it was reported that he had died on his wounds. His death was afterwards officially presumed to have occurred on 11 October, 1940 as a result of his wounds, however his headstone gives his death date as the date his aircraft was shot down, 8 October 1940. He was 24 years old. 

John was buried in the Guines Communal Cemetery, France. Two other crew members who died instantly after the aircraft crashed are also buried at Guines. In Westminster Abbey there is a memorial window dedicated to honour airmen of the Commonwealth who died during the Battle of Britain. The name of JC Mallon is inscribed beneath this memorial.

Jack’s older brother Thomas Alexander Mallon was also killed during World War Two on 12 March 1945. Jack and Thomas' younger brother William Mallon also served during with war with the RNAF as a Flight Sergeant with 75 Squadron. He survived the war and died in 29 June 2010. Some of William's war experiences and that of the crew of the Lancaster bomber that he piloted, are described in the book, The Mallon Crew by Vic Jay (published 2016).

Books

Lest We Forget, Jack West, p..243.

For Your Tomorrow, Errol W. Martyn, vol. 1, p.97.

The Mallon Crew, Vic Jay

Related Documents

RNZAF Biographies of Deceased Personnel 1939-1945, John Mallon, Archives NZ (R17845613-0032).

Brothers discovered the heroics of the their World War Two fighter pilot father in a new book, Taranaki Daily News, 8 January 2017.