1st August 2025
Thame Town Council is delighted to announce that Oxfordshire Blue Plaques Board awarded a prestigious Blue Plaque to John Henry Smythe OBE, MBE (mil), QC. which was officially unveiled on Saturday at 1 Garden City, Thame.
John Smythe left his home town of Sierra Leone to join the RAF in 1941. On his fifth mission, he was shot down.
Although wounded he made a successful parachute jump and was captured. He endured brutal interrogation before having his wounds treated and sent to Stalag Luft 1 POW camp.
After liberation, he was seconded to the Colonial Office as a liaison officer, and in this capacity, he would play a crucial role in the inception of the Windrush generation.
He would later qualify as a barrister and return to his country where he became Attorney general. He spent his last years in Thame and is buried in St. Mary’s churchyard.
