John volunteered for the RAF aged eighteen and left for flight training in Rhodesia in June 1941. On his return in July 1942 he joined 172 Squadron, an anti-submarine squadron, part of RAF Costal Command, based at RAF Chivenor, Devon, flying the Vickers Wellington MkVIII fitted with a carbon arc searchlight.

He was the second pilot on board an aircraft which took off on patrol at 21:28hrs on Sunday 27^th December 1942, never to return. No signals were received. John Webber, aged 20, was the second OW from this squadron to be killed in action. He is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial, Englefield Green, Surrey.

Son of John Harold Webber & Lilian R Webber of Beverley, Yorkshire.

A downloadable copy of this story is available here.

Revised: November 2025