Today’s advent post is that of Norman Cyril Jackson VC, perhaps the most extraordinary VC citation I have ever read. Though, to be awarded a VC, one must do something rather spectacular, so reading citations are often jaw-dropping moments.
Norman was born on 8th April 1919 and was adopted just one week later by the Gunter family.
Norman qualified as a fitter and turner so technically was in a reserved occupation. He joined the RAF Volunteer Reserve in 1939 and originally served as a Classified Fitter IIE (engines).
In January 1941, he was assigned to a Sunderland flying boat squadron based in Freetown, Sierra Leone. He applied for retraining as a flight engineer and returned to England in September 1942.
On 28 July 1943, he joined No. 106 Squadron which operated Lancaster bombers. He completed his tour of 30 missions on 24 April 1944, but, as he had flown one sortie with a different crew, he wanted to do one more with his original crew mates. This 31st mission was to be a raid on the German ball bearing factories at Schweinfurt on the night of 26–27 April 1943.
Having bombed the target, Jackson's Lancaster was attacked by a German night fighter and a fuel tank in the starboard wing caught fire. Norman, already wounded from shell splinters, strapped on a parachute, grabbed a fire extinguisher and clambered outside onto the wing.
The plane was travelling at 140 miles per hour. He gripped the air intake on the leading edge of the wing with one hand, and fought the fire with the other. The flames seared his hands, face, and clothes. A fighter came back and attacked the bomber again, a burst of gunfire sending two bullets into Norman’s his legs. The burst also swept him off the wing.
He fell 20,000 feet but his parachute saved his life. He broke his ankle on landing but he managed to crawl to a nearby German village the next morning.
He spent 10 months recovering in hospital before being transferred to Stalag IX-C prisoner-of-war camp. He made two escape attempts, the second of which was successful.
Norman’s exploit on the burning Lancaster wing became known when the surviving crewmen of his bomber were released from POW camps at the end of the war.
He was promoted to warrant officer and his Victoria Cross award was gazetted on 26 October 1945.
Norman’s VC citation read:
The KING has been graciously pleased to confer the VICTORIA CROSS in recognition of most conspicuous bravery to:-
905192 Sergeant (Now Warrant Officer) Norman Cyril Jackson R.A.F.V.R., 106 Squadron.
This airman was the flight engineer in a Lancaster detailed to attack Schweinfurt on the night of 26th April 1944. Bombs were dropped successfully and the aircraft was climbing out of the target area. Suddenly it was attacked by a fighter at about 20,000 feet. The captain took evading action at once, but the enemy secured many hits. A fire started near a petrol tank on the upper surface of the starboard wing, between the fuselage and the inner engine.
Sergeant Jackson was thrown to the floor during the engagement. Wounds which he received from shell splinters in the right leg and shoulder were probably sustained at that time. Recovering himself, he remarked that he could deal with the fire on the wing and obtained his captain's permission to try to put out the flames.
Pushing a hand fire-extinguisher into the top of his life-saving jacket and clipping on his parachute pack, Sergeant Jackson jettisoned the escape hatch above the pilot's head. He then started to climb out of the cockpit and back along the top of the fuselage to the starboard wing. Before he could leave the fuselage his parachute pack opened and the whole canopy and rigging lines spilled into the cockpit.
Undeterred, Sergeant Jackson continued. The pilot (Fred Mifflin), bomb aimer (Maurice Toft) and navigator (Frank Higgins) gathered the parachute together and held on to the rigging lines, paying them out as the airman crawled aft. Eventually he slipped and, falling from the fuselage to the starboard wing, grasped an air intake on the leading edge of the wing. He succeeded in clinging on but lost the extinguisher, which was blown away.
By this time, the fire had spread rapidly and Sergeant Jackson was involved. His face, hands and clothing were severely burnt. Unable to retain his hold he was swept through the flames and over the trailing edge of the wing, dragging his parachute behind. When last seen it was only partly inflated and was burning in a number of places.
Realising that the fire could not be controlled, the captain gave the order to abandon aircraft. Four of the remaining members of the crew landed safely. The captain and rear gunner have not been accounted for.
Sergeant Jackson was unable to control his descent and landed heavily. He sustained a broken ankle, his right eye was closed through burns and his hands were useless. These injuries, together with the wounds received earlier, reduced him to a pitiable state. At daybreak he crawled to the nearest village, where he was taken prisoner. He bore the intense pain and discomfort of the journey to Dulag Luft with magnificent fortitude. After ten months in hospital he made a good recovery, though his hands require further treatment and are only of limited use.
This airman's attempt to extinguish the fire and save the aircraft and crew from falling into enemy hands was an act of outstanding gallantry. To venture outside, when travelling at 200 miles an hour, at a great height and in intense cold, was an almost incredible feat. Had he succeeded in subduing the flames, there was little or no prospect of his regaining the cockpit. The spilling of his parachute and the risk of grave damage to its canopy reduced his chances of survival to a minimum. By his ready willingness to face these dangers he set an example of self-sacrifice which will ever be remembered.
Wow. Just wow. What some people can do in the most difficult of circumstances, where almost certain death is just around the corner, in order to save others, is truly staggering.
Norman survived the war, went on to marry and had seven children. He died in 1994 and is buried in 1994.