Andy Johnson

Accredited Guide Number: 52

My interest in military history started many years ago and, by the age of 12, I KNEW that I was going to join the RAF. I served with the RAF for over 28 years, including 17 years on the Boeing Sentry AWACS, with operational flying in the Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts.

I left the RAF in 2009 to become a full-time Battlefield Guide, and have now completed 129 tours (it should have been a lot more but COVID-19 got in the way!).

I take groups to the Western Front and, having travelling widely in India, have a major interest in the story of the Indian Corps on the Western Front. I also lead Second World War tours and have been privileged to take veterans to Normandy and Monte Cassino. What an honour! I should have taken a group to Imphal in August 2020 to commemorate VJ Day but, sadly, this was cancelled due to COVID.

Having spent so long in the air environment, I also lead tours to sites related to the Great War in the air, the Combined Bomber Offensive and the German secret weapons programme. This naturally leads to the subject of National Socialist Germany and I have explored a number of aspects of Hitler’s Germany, from the concentration camp and forced labour systems through to the Final Solution. It is a difficult but important subject.

And Germany, of course, leads to an interest in Berlin. I never served in Berlin – but I am an old Cold Warrior!

I joined the Guild of Battlefield Guides in 2008 and completed validation in November 2011.

Battles

ArnhemBattle of AmiensBattle of the SommeD-DayNormandy LandingsOperation Market GardenWWIYpres

Countries

BelgiumEastern EuropeEnglandEuropeFranceNetherlandsPolandScotlandUnited KingdomWalesWestern Europe

Caters For

Adult Coach GroupsIndividualsSchool GroupsSmall Groups

Areas of Expertise

Wars covered:

First World War

  • Ypres Salient 1914-1918
  • Somme 1916 and 1918
  • German Spring Offensive and the Battle of Amiens
  • Indian Army
  • Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force

Second World War:

  • D-Day and Normandy
  • Arnhem and Operation MARKET GARDEN, including Hell’s Highway
  • Bomber Command
  • German secret weapons
  • Third Reich and the Holocaust

Cold War

Areas of expertise:

  • The Air War
  • German secret weapons
  • India
  • NSDAP Germany & the Holocaust 

Other specialisms:

  • I have supported a number of long-distance charity cycle rides, including Help for Heroes, SSAFA, and a Hertfordshire hospice. I am always ready to help such projects.