John Herbertson (OW 1956)

28 December 1938 – 1 August 2025

The Waynflete Office has sadly been informed of the death of John Herbertson, aged 86. John was the first of his brothers Robert (OW 1961) and Neil (OW 1968) to attend MCS. We send our condolences to Robert, Neil and John’s other family and friends.

We are grateful for this obituary shared by Robert which has been abridged below:

John was the first of three brothers to have been educated at MCS. He was appointed Head of School by Robert Stanier in 1955 and left school to attend Royal Air Force College, Cranwell, in January 1956. He was never happier than when he was flying one of the many types of aircraft in service, including V-bombers out of RAF Scampton. For a short period, he was the Officer Commanding 617 squadron of the famous Dambusters.

On secondment to the US Army he filled the role of transporting their Generals by air on various missions from the base in Shreeveport, Louisiana, USA.

Having served for his allotted years in the Royal Air Force, he retired and studied for a degree in wrought iron work. John then invested in an iron forge in Ludlow, Shropshire, where he lived with his wife, Jan, until she died a year ago.

John and Jan raised four children who, despite being well scattered across the globe were able to be with him at the end.