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Norman Cyril Jackson (1919 – 1994) was a sergeant in the Royal Air Force who won the Victoria Cross during a bombing raid on Schweinfurt in April 1944. Born in Ealing, Jackson joined the RAF Volunteer Reserve in 1939 and originally served as an engine fitter. He retrained as a flight engineer and on July 28, 1943 he joined No. 106 Squadron which operated Avro Lancaster bombers.
Jackson completed his tour of 30 missions on April 24, 1944 but, as he had flown one sortie with a different crew, he chose to fly once more so that his original aircrew finished their tour together. Jackson's 31st mission took place on the night of April 26-27, 1944, when his crew flew in a raid on the German ball bearing factories at Schweinfurt.
Having bombed the target, Jackson's Lancaster was attacked by a German night fighter and a fuel tank in the starboard wing caught fire. Jackson, already wounded from shell splinters, strapped on a parachute and equipped himself with a fire extinguisher before climbing out of the aircraft and onto the fuselage, whilst the aeroplane was flying at 200 mph, in order to put out the fire. His parachute partially opened causing him to slip out onto the wing. As he passed through the fire he sustained serious burns before falling 20,000 feet to the ground with a partially opened and burning parachute.
He suffered further injuries upon landing, but managed to crawl to a nearby German village where he was paraded through the street. He spent 10 months recovering in hospital before being transferred to the Stalag Kc prisoner of war camp. He made two escape attempts, the second of which was successful as he made contact with a unit of the US Third Army.
Jackson was promoted to Warrant Officer and his Victoria Cross award was gazetted on October 26, 1945.
In April of 2004 Jackson's VC medal was sold at auction for £235,250 (GBP).
Norman Cyril Jackson was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
Details
He was 25 years old, and a Sergeant in the 106 Squadron, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve during the Second World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.
On 26 April 1944 after bombing Schweinfurt, Germany, the Lancaster in which Sergeant Jackson was flight engineer, was hit by an enemy fighter and fire broke out. Having asked permission to try to deal with it, Sergeant Jackson clipped on his parachute and, with a fire extinguisher, climbed on to the fuselage of the aircraft which was travelling at 200mph at 20,000ft. He tried to put out the fire, but his parachute partly opened and he slipped on to the wing. The fire spread and he was badly burned, then he was swept from the wing with his partly-inflated, burning parachute trailing behind him. He landed heavily, breaking an ankle, and was taken prisoner.
Further information
He later achieved the rank of Warrant Officer.
The medal
please update if you know where his medal is publicly displayed
Reference
See also
External links
This page has been migrated from the Victoria Cross Reference (http://www.victoriacross.net) with permission.
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