Remembering Bill Johns from Thurso – the WWII POW hid a radio in his accordion and met the Pope
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The recent Remembrance Sunday event in Thurso served as the backdrop for a local woman remembering her late grandfather and his incredible World War Two story of defiance.
Linda Johns visited Thurso cemetery to plant a poppy cross on the grave of Bill (Moreland) Johns who she warmly remembers as a man who was "always smiling and laughing".
"We used to say you could hear him before you saw him as he was always laughing around a corner, having a joke or laughing away with somebody," Linda recalled.
She said that her grandad was a well-known figure within the Caithness music scene of the 60s, 70s and 80s with the Bill Johns Band in which he played accordion. "They played every weekend and every wedding that was going they were always asked to play."
The band mainly performed in Caithness and "were the preferred choice" of many people arranging a wedding. The Bill Johns Band also played a wide spectrum of music from traditional Scottish to popular hits of the times. Bill's son (Linda's father, Billy Johns) played lead guitar in the band and they were accompanied by Mary Sinclair on keyboards.
Though lauded for his musical abilities and cheery nature, Yorkshire born Bill had some experiences that he seldom discussed with anyone. During WWII, he was in the Black Watch and joined the Desert Rats in north Africa to fight against the German forces. He was captured in 1943 after the Battle of Tunis and Wadi Akrit and ended up at Prisoner of War Campo 66 in Italy.
Bill was given an old accordion that was falling to pieces and could hardly get a tune out of it but managed to fix it up enough to entertain the other prisoners. Pope Pius XII visited the camp and Bill was astounded when he spoke with him and showed an interest in the accordion. Bill explained to the Pope that it was difficult to repair as he did not have the correct materials to do so but was happy to be able to play it to the best of his ability anyway.
Another time, when his captors asked him to play he told them the accordion was "kaput" and he needed to repair it. Little did the camp personnel know that he had a radio set hidden within the bellows that was used to transmit messages to help the war effort but which made it impossible to play.
Two weeks after the visit, Bill was amazed to receive a gift directly from the Vatican – a brand new accordion from the Pontiff himself. To put the icing on the cake it was a Paolo Soprani – regarded as a leading maker of accordions to this day. That accordion accompanied Bill throughout his incarceration and he even played it to keep up the morale of his comrades when they were forced to march to another camp in Germany near the war's end.
Bill had been stationed briefly in Thurso in 1940 and he returned there after the war to marry local girl Ellen (Nellie) Sutherland and after setting up a barber shop in Castletown he eventually got a job with British Rail in Thurso. In 2001 he received a Caithness Civic Award to honour his musical services within the community which included supporting numerous good causes
After Bill passed away at the age of 92 in 2005 his family donated the accordion to the Royal British Legion Thurso branch where it can still be seen.
