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Plaques awarded,
with biographies

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Oxfordshire Blue
Plaques Board

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New plaques in 2026:

• Beatrice Blackwood

• Baroness Lucy Faithfull

• Revd Dr John Allen
     Giles

• Mary Sophia Merivale

 

John Henry Smythe was born in Freetown, Sierra Leone, the son of John Henry Maitland Smythe, a civil service officer and staff superintendent of the General Post Office, and Dorcas Elizabeth Black. He volunteered for service with the RAF in WWII and joined bomber command, becoming pilot officer and navigator. After twenty-seven successful missions, his plane was shot down over Germany on 18 October 1943 and he spent the rest of the war in a POW camp. He was awarded a military MBE in 1951.

After the war he was seconded to the Colonial Office and appointed Senior Officer on HMT Empire Windrush, the ship taking former military personnel back to their homes in the Caribbean. Discovering that there was no employment available for those returning to Jamaica, he recommended that they be returned to Britain, thus playing his part in the story of the Windrush generation of immigrants. He also revealed an aptitude for advocacy while defending men facing court martials. It was suggested that he should train as a barrister and was given support to achieve that goal. He was called to the Bar at the Middle Temple and became one of Britain's first black barristers, later becoming a QC.

He returned to Sierra Leone in 1951 and rose to be Solicitor General and then Attorney General. He helped to write the new constitution in 1961 and later went into private practice and started his own law chambers. He was awarded an OBE in 1978 for his services to government.

He spent the last five years of his life at 1 Garden City in Thame (below) and is buried in St Mary’s churchyard, Thame.

Sources:

• Details passim on websites e.g. the Imperial War Museum, Bomber Command Museum, Thame Museum, Black History Month

The plaque was unveiled at 1 Garden City, Thame, on 26 July 2025. The proceedings were introduced by Cllr Andy Gilbert, Mayor of Thame, and Professor Robert Evans, Chair of Oxfordshire Blue Plaques Board. The speaker was Eddy Smythe, John Henry’s son. Among those attending were Cllr Ted Fenton, Vice-Chair of Oxfordshire CC, representatives of RAF Benson and RAF High Wycombe, and members of the Smythe family.

Photographs taken at the ceremony:

• Cllr Andy Gilbert, Mayor of Thame, introducing the proceedings
• Eddy Smythe, John Henry Smythe's son, delivering his speech
• The plaque unveiled
• Smythe family members with the plaque and with the RAF representatives
• RAF representatives and Eddy Smythe flanked by Cllrs Andy Gilbert and Ted Fenton
• Refreshments after the ceremony