Frank Jefferson

His bold PIAT attack broke the enemy armoured counterstroke.

Francis Arthur Jefferson was born in Ulverston on 18 August 1921. He entered the Army in February 1942, trained at Formby and served with the Lancashire Fusiliers. He reached North Africa in May 1943 before joining the regiment's 2nd Battalion. In Italy he served as a runner in C Company during the advance against the Gustav Line.

On 16 May 1944, near Monte Cassino, the battalion's leading company was exposed to a German armoured counterattack. Jefferson took a PIAT anti-tank weapon and ran forward through fire without waiting for orders. His first shot disabled the leading tank. He returned for ammunition and advanced again against the next vehicle, which withdrew. His intervention checked the attack until British tanks could support the infantry and helped prevent the company from being overrun.

Promoted lance corporal the following day, he remained with the battalion until shrapnel wounded his shoulder in June. He was evacuated to Britain in August. George VI presented his Victoria Cross at Buckingham Palace, with his parents present. Jefferson subsequently spoke at factories and events supporting the war effort before leaving regular service in July 1946. He enlisted again in the Northamptonshire Regiment in January 1950 and transferred to reserve status in June 1951.

After marrying and becoming a father of two, Jefferson lived in the United States during the 1950s. Following the breakdown of his marriage, he returned to Lancashire in the mid-1970s and lived with his widowed mother in Bolton. He experienced ill health and financial difficulties. His Victoria Cross was stolen in 1982 and has not been recovered. On 4 September that year he was struck by a train and died in Bolton Infirmary, aged 61. After cremation, his ashes were scattered at Wellington Barracks, Bury.

Victoria Cross citation

On 16th May, 1944, during an attack on the Gustav Line, an anti-tank obstacle held up some of our tanks, leaving the leading Company of Fusilier Jefferson's Battalion to dig in on the hill without tanks or anti-tank guns. The enemy counter-attacked with infantry and two Mark IV tanks, which opened fire at short range causing a number of casualties, and eliminating one P.I.A.T. group entirely.

As the tanks advanced towards the partially dug trenches, Fusilier Jefferson, entirely on his own initiative, seized a P.I.A.T. and running forward alone under heavy fire, took up a position behind a hedge; as he could not see properly, he came into the open, and standing up under a hail of bullets, fired at the leading tank which was now only twenty yards away. It burst into flames and all the crew were killed.

Fusilier Jefferson then reloaded the P.I.A.T. and proceeded towards the second tank, which withdrew before he could get within range. By this time our own tanks had arrived and the enemy counter-attack was smashed with heavy casualties. Fusilier Jefferson's gallant act not merely saved the lives of his Company and caused many casualties to the Germans, but also broke up the enemy counter-attack and had a decisive effect on the subsequent operation. His supreme gallantry and disregard of personal risk contributed very largely to the success of the action.