If Johns and the crew’s eleventh mission was difficult then their 22nd was terrifying. On February 22, 1945, twenty Lancasters joined a larger armada heading for Osterfeld. Although their route to target was good, the heavy and accurate flak broke the bomber formation and damaged 14 from the 19 bombers from No.115 Squadron (one aborted early). Snyder wrote on his logbook: 43 holes! Kehoe writing gives us an insight from the crew.

"On a mission to Osterfeld, located at the northern end of the Ruhr where an oil refinery was located.  The total number of Lancasters for this raid was about 400 aircraft.  Three hours into the flight and on approach to Osterfeld the anti-aircraft fire was so intense planes were hit from all angles.  Just as we were about ready to make our drop we were hit very badly.  I was on the bombsight when a shell exploded beneath us and I ended up stuck to the ceiling.  As the plane leveled off I fell to the floor on my hands and knees.  I then realized my intercom was disconnected and my oxygen was off so I had no contact with the crew.  Talk about scary moments, we all thought that we were goners.  Besides being hit we had lost an engine and when we landed we counted 47 holes in the body of our Lancaster.  At the briefing, we were asked “how much damage do you have?”  We were not the only crew to return with damage to our aircraft but at least we got back to base."

John and his crew were some of the luckiest men in Bomber Command having completed their tour of 31 combat missions, on April 14, 1945, on a mission over Potsdam (Berlin). He flew 183,30 combat flight hours, 81,55 during the night, and a total of 199,20 while serving with the No.115 Squadron. (Check the missions table below) According to Kehoe:

"On what turned out to be the last mission we were sent to Kiel Harbour (actually this was their 30th mission) there was a German pocket battleship in for repair.  On the briefing day, we were told we must fly 100 feet over the ocean so radar could not pick us up.  If there was any warning the ship always ready would then head out to sea.  This raid had to be done at night and as a surprise attack.  In order to drop the bombs we must reach 20,000 feet on approach there was plenty of anti-aircraft fire and very accurate.  Lighters were dropped from 30,000 feet lighting up the sky making us an easy target.  However, our thoughts were on hitting our target (the battleship) and getting out of there.  When we landed we were met by Wing Commander Shaw.  He congratulated us and told us our tour of operation was finished and that we were on our way home.  He then asked if we would consider volunteering for 10 additional trips with the pathfinders.  Needless to say, he got no volunteers."

Although John didn’t apply for a second tour he continued his training in Canada, specifically at No.1 IFS (Instrument Flying School) in Deseronto Ontario, and Trenton. The commencement of the trading began in August 1945 and completed in October, mostly flying Ansons as well as numerous LINK sorties. He was released from service on November 18, 1945, and wrote on his logbook: HOME, END, FINISH...FOREVER.

After returning from WWII he went on to earn his B.S. from the University of British Columbia at Vancouver, followed by his Masters, and then went on to achieve his Ph.D. from McGill University. He was very intelligent because of diligent studying. It did not come easy. He failed chemistry twice. Unfortunately, he lost his father shortly after returning home.He married the late Trudy Stock (of Hamburg, Germany) and they lived together in Canada before relocating to Long Beach, California to work for Shell Oil and Development Company in the1950s. Unfortunately, Trudy was killed in an auto accident and he re-married Irene Michaelis (Typaldos), a young half Greek lady who was 20 years younger than him. it was here that he embraced his Greek Heritage. He always wore what he called a Greek fisherman’s hat roasted lamb on a spit for Easter and attended the Houston Greek Festivals. They both spoke and wrote fluent Greek. John was later transferred to Houston as a Senior Research Chemist where he remained until he retired in 1985. During his tenure at Shell, his research team was responsible for the development of advancements in the field of synthetic rubbers developed from the petrochemical industry. The work of his team resulted in the development of thirteen separate patents, most of them with applications in the automobile industry.

After retiring, John traveled the world and, deciding it was the best place on earth, settled in Port Townsend, WA in the early 1990s.  There, he was a resident of Cape George Colony, Master Gardener involved in several community gardens, dedicated volunteer, fish counter, tree planter, and never missed a PT family portrait.  He loved walking the Larry Scott Trail, spending time in the library, and volunteering at the Wooden Boat Festival.  In 2007 he reached his goal of 100 volunteered hours.  In 2008 he relocated to Austin to be closer to family. John was an avid traveler and a life-long member of Hostelling International. He loved to spend time with his two daughters and grandchildren, garden, cook, hike, and climb mountains.  He climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa just before his 70th birthday and he climbed all of Colorado’s mountains. He was very proud of his time in the RCAF and was fond of regaling the family with stories of his thirty-one successful missions in his Lancaster bomber. Dr. John Leonard Snyder, 87, of Austin, passed away May 11, 2010.  John is survived by his two daughters: Angela Snyder of Seattle, and Tiffany Hofeldt of Buda; He also is survived by two grandchildren Harlan and Van Hofeldt.