S/Ldr Hill was born on 28th December 1912. He was educated at Dover College.
John was given a short service commission in 1932 and the next year joined 19 Squadron, based at Duxford and flying Bristol Bulldogs.
Shortly before the outbreak of war, John was sent to France with orders to prepare Boos, an airfield near Rouen, to receive 85 and 87 Hurricane squadrons.
The area was divided into French and British sectors. The Western Front was quiet during the so-called "phoney war" of the autumn and winter of 1939.
In May 1940 John took charge of 504 (Hurricane) Squadron, whose previous commander had been shot down and killed in the defence of France.
Soon afterwards the squadron's airfield near Lille was overrun; but not before John had scrambled 12 Hurricanes into the air. But suddenly 50 enemy fighters swooped out of the sun. Cannon shells hammered into John's engine, rattling the armour-plating and smashing away large pieces of the cowling. At 28,000 feet the engine stopped, and with his tail shot off, John, wounded in the knee, opened the hood and bailed out.
As he floated down towards a field of stubble he was peppered with shotgun pellets. Below he could see three French peasants shooting at him from behind a hedge. On landing, John flattened himself under his parachute while his assailants continued to let loose. As they approached he pulled down his flying overall to reveal an RAF uniform calling out "Je suis Anglais". Apologising, the peasants carried him to the roadside where he was picked up by a passing French Air Force corporal. A little way on the car was stopped by a British Army vehicle containing an elderly Major, a sergeant and five privates.
Hill blessed his good fortune until the Major ordered: "Put your hands up. You're Fifth Column".
"Look, Major" remonstrated John"I'm an RAF squadron leader. Don't be so bloody silly." This only enraged the officer who drew his revolver as the soldiers levelled their rifles. Hill slowly raised his hands and offered to produce his identity card. But as he reached into his breast pocket the soldiers opened fire shattering the French corporal's shoulder. John rolled out of the car into a ditch but the Major's action had convinced the French peasants that John, as they had first thought, was a German spy.
They fell upon him in the ditch beating him with pitchfork handles, their wives kicking him with clogs. Soon he last consciousness.
When he came round, his head was in the lap of a French Air Force commandant whom he recognised. The shamefaced peasants sought to make amends a second time, proffering wine, flowers and honey.
The Commandant placed John under arrest for his own protection. This was just as well, because the Army again attempted to apprehend him. An English subaltern pulled up in a truck saying he had orders from his Colonel to arrest the German spy. Fortunately, the French Commandant would have none of it and drove him off.
John then boarded an ambulance train at Lille but, when it was dive-bombed, the driver and fireman abandoned their cab. John and a fellow RAF officer took charge of the train and drove it 10 miles to Boulogne.
When John finally reached Dover, he boarded another ambulance train before deciding to telephone his wife. The doors of the train were locked but he managed to climb through a window onto the platform. There he found that he only had French francs and so asked the train driver for change. He was promptly arrested again on suspicion of being an enemy agent.
After returning from France in July 1940, John Hill assumed command of 222 (Natal) Squadron at Kirton-in-Lindsey, Yorkshire.
On 29th August, with the Battle of Britain raging, 222 Squadron was ordered south to Hornchurch. On 30th August, John damaged a Me109.
222 Squadron lost 18 aircraft and a number of pilots over the following 48 hours.
On 1st September, John shot down a Me109 and two days later a Me110.
He led the squadron through the rest of the battle until in November when it was ordered to Coltishall to rest.
In January 1941 Hill was appointed chief flying instructor at 57 Operational Training Unit, Hawarden, near Chester.
In July 1942, John was posted to New Zealand for air staff duties, including a time in the Solomon Islands.
In 1945 he returned to a post at Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force.
In 1948 he joined the staff of the British Air Attache in Paris, qualifying meanwhile as a Vampire jet pilot. Staff appointments and station commands followed.
John retired in 1960 after 28 years having been mentioned in despatches in 1942 and appointed CBE in 1946.
John Hill passed away in 1998 at the aged of 85.
