John Henry Clavell Smythe QC MBE (1915–1996) was a Sierra Leonean Royal Air Force officer during World War II and barrister.

On his 27th flight and 5th operation on 18 November 1943, he was shot down, wounded and captured and spent 18 months as a prisoner of war in Stalag Luft I camp in Barth, eastern Germany.

In 1948 he became the senior Colonial Office official on the Empire Windrush, a captured German troop ship taking former military personnel back to their homes in the Caribbean.

[9] After Smythe twice successfully defended men facing courts martial, despite having no legal training, a judge suggested that he take up a career in law and provided a letter of introduction.

[10][11] In 2022, there was a docudrama made in honour of him in a film entitled Flying For Britain in partnership with the Royal Air Force Museum and National Heritage Fund.

[12][13][14][15] In 2024, Helena Bonham Carter's BBC Radio 4 documentary podcast History's Secret Heroes dedicated a full episode to Smythe's efforts during the Second World War.