Norman Cyril Jackson

Norman Cyril Jackson VC

Rank at Gallantry: Sergeant (Flight Engineer), Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve Unit: No. 106 Squadron RAF Born: 8 April 1919, Ealing, Middlesex, England Died: 26 March 1994, Hampton Hill, London, England

Norman Cyril Jackson VC was one of Bomber Command’s most remarkable heroes, earning the Victoria Cross for an act of self-sacrifice almost without parallel in aviation history. A qualified fitter and turner before the war, he volunteered for the Royal Air Force despite working in a reserved occupation and became a flight engineer on Avro Lancaster bombers with No. 106 Squadron. Having already completed his operational tour, Jackson volunteered to fly an additional mission so he could remain with his regular crew as they finished theirs.

On the night of 26–27 April 1944, during a bombing raid against Schweinfurt, Germany, Jackson’s Lancaster was attacked by a German night fighter. Cannon fire ignited fuel on the starboard wing, threatening to destroy the aircraft and everyone aboard. Although already wounded by shell splinters, Jackson volunteered to fight the blaze himself. Carrying a portable fire extinguisher and secured only by his parachute streaming behind him, he climbed out through the escape hatch and crawled onto the wing of the bomber as it flew at approximately 20,000 feet through the freezing darkness at over 200 mph. He succeeded in bringing the flames under control before a second fighter attack struck the aircraft. Blown from the wing, suffering severe burns and gunshot wounds, Jackson fell with a badly damaged parachute that only partially deployed. Miraculously, he survived the descent, was captured by German forces, spent many months recovering in military hospitals before being transferred to a prisoner-of-war camp, and later made escape attempts before finally being liberated in 1945. His extraordinary courage became known only after his fellow crew members returned from captivity, leading to the award of the Victoria Cross in October 1945.

After the war, Jackson lived a quiet life with his wife Alma and their seven children, working as a travelling salesman before retiring. He remained a humble ambassador for Bomber Command until his death in 1994. Today, he is remembered as the man who willingly climbed onto the wing of a burning Lancaster in flight to save his crew, an act that remains one of the greatest demonstrations of courage in Royal Air Force history.

Citation: London Gazette, 26 October 1945. Victoria Cross awarded for “most conspicuous bravery” during the Schweinfurt raid of 26–27 April 1944 after Sergeant Jackson climbed onto the wing of his burning Lancaster in an attempt to extinguish the fire despite almost certain death.