John Benjamin Weston was educated at Chelmsford's grammar school prior to working for Norwich Union in the town. He married in 1938 and had two children, before joining the army in 1940 and the Army Air Corps four years later. He was killed in November 1944 when his aircraft crashed at First Avenue, Chelmsford, also killing the pilot. His mother lived off Rectory Lane.
John Benjamin WESTON, Lieutenant, The Glider Pilot Regiment, Army Air Corps
Killed in an aircraft crash in First Avenue, Chelmsford. Aged 29
Joan was the elder daughter of Frank Buckland Wiseman (1874-1936) and Edith Hope (nee Dannatt) (1884-1982), Frank had been a director of the Chelmsford engineering firm, Christy and Norris. The newlyweds set up home at 10 Seagrove Place in Newcastle- Under- Lyme, Staffordshire, where their first daughter Jillian was born. The 1939 National Register recorded John's profession as 'insurance inspector' and his wife's as 'unpaid domestic duties'.
In 1940 John joined the army initially with the Essex Yeomanry and serving in the Royal Artillery subsequently being associated with radio- location, he went through the severe enemy attacks on Coventry and Birmingham in a defensive role. Joan and daughter returned to live with her mother at Paglesham House in Broomfield. John's family had moved to Meadowside House off Rectory Lane in Chelmsford. A second daughter Judith Margaret was born in 1943. Wishing to see more action John volunteered to join the Airborne forces early in 1944 and was training to become a Glider Pilot, serving as Lieutenant 300744 based at the time of his death at Rivenhall Aerodrome. Letters showed he was wrapped up in his flying duties, had gained his wings, but his greatest regret was that his training had not been sufficiently advanced to permit him being 'a man of Arnhem'. Two of John's brothers served in the Royal Navy and the eldest in the Royal Air Force.
John was the passenger in the gypsy moth training plane which crashed in the garden of 33 First Avenue, Chelmsford at 11.40 am on November 29th1944. An eyewitness reported that he had seen the plane circling round and seemed to be in difficulties. Suddenly it twisted sideways, then nosed to the ground killing both occupants. It was assumed that John was trying to direct the pilot to make an emergency landing on his old school playing field (now redeveloped as Fell Christy Road and houses), as this was adjacent to first Avenue. The plane was found to be out of fuel and may have been prevented from returning to base by the presence of enemy aircraft. There was some discrepancy in reports as the official line reported they were doing aerobatics over a populated area and the identity of the pilot was not known. The pilot was infact Staff Seargent Clifford George Wormleighton of the Glider Pilot regiment, from Coventry, with 158 hours solo flying while John had 20 hours.
John's funeral with full military honours, the coffin enshrouded by the Union Jack borne by 6 sergeants of the Glider Pilot Regiment was held at St. Mary's Church Broomfield on December 3rd and he rests in one of the war graves there.
John Weston was born on 25 October 1915 in Norwich, Norfolk where his family lived, the second son of Harry Stanley Weston (1882-1941) and Beatrice Lilian Weston (nee Holmes) (1882-1966). John's siblings were Raymond Weston (1911-1988), Philip Edward Weston (1918-1993), and Lilian Mary Weston (1913-1986). Richard Granville Weston (1923-1976) was born in Reading, before the family moved to Broomfield in 1928.
John was educated at King Edward VI Grammar School in Chelmsford where he was described as a keen sportsman, holding several swimming records.
On leaving school he followed his father, who had previously worked in the motor trade, but was now employed at the Chelmsford Norwich Union branch, by joining Norwich Union Insurance, working in Ipswich then at their Fire Society's Fleet Street branch before transferring to Stoke on Trent in 1937.
He was later described as having been a man of courage and initiative proving himself one of their most enterprising and successful business producers with a promising future.
On 30 July 1938 he married Joan Buckland Wiseman at St Mary's Church, Broomfield.
John is commemorated on the Broomfield British Legion's and Grammar School war memorials and the war memorial window in St Mary's Church.
John's widow remarried to George Antron Knowles (1909-1972) of Broomfield in 1955, she died in 1977. Her younger daughter, an 11month old baby at the time of her father's death, recalled that her mother had been told by John that he joined the Glider Pilot Regiment as he was frustrated by his role in the Royal Artillery and wanted to see more action. With her mother and sister, baby Margaret spent a sad Christmas 1944 with John's mother and sister Mary at Meadowside House, which had been damaged in the Hoffman's V-2 rocket incident of December 19th, leaving it with shattered windows.