John Mackenzie Southwell was born on 8 March 1914 and joined the RAFVR in 1933. He trained to be a pilot at No 1 Flying Training School which was part of 23 Group. He rose through the ranks and was a Flt Lt at the start of the war. He served with distinction with 75 Sqn flying Wellingtons. He was then given command of 57 Sqn and after nearly a year moved to 311 Sqn to help them prepare for transfer to Coastal Command. He then moved to 9 Sqn and whilst in charge oversaw the conversion from Wellingtons to Lancasters. He was recommended for the DSO on 26 March 1943 by the Station Commander of RAF Waddington, but this was reduced to a second DFC by AVM Ralph Cochrane commenting “While I concur in the Station Commander’s tributes to his personal gallantry and powers of leadership, I consider that he failed in the operational organisation of his Squadron. I recommend that he should be awarded a Bar to the Distinguished Flying Cross and not the Distinguished Service Order.”. This was due to the high losses 9 Sqn was suffering despite high morale on the Sqn. John died in April 1995 in Banbury, Oxfordshire.