Victoria Cross Achieves Record Amount At Auction

Ealing's WWII Hero's Medal Goes To A Private Collector

Norman Jackson, a World War II airman, risked his life to save the crew of a Lancaster bomber by climbing out of the cockpit to try to put out flames as his plane came under fire from a German fighter.    As he tried to put out the flames on the wing, he fell 20,000ft but survived, and managed to crawl to a village close to the site of bombing raids on the town of Schweinfurt in Germany.    He sustained horrific burns and injuries and had to spend 10 months in hospital before being sent to a prisoner of war camp.

At just 25 years old, Jackson who came from Ealing, was awarded a Victoria Cross for his bravery, presented to him in 1945 by King George VI.

Upon his death, the medal was left to his wife who sadly did not specify a recipient in her will.    The Jackson family had wanted to give the medal, worth more than £140,000, to RAF Museum in Hendon but because they didn't have the legal right to do this, the medal had to be either stored or sold.

Didy Grahame, secretary of the Victoria Cross and George Cross Association, told the BBC before the auction, "What one hopes and wants is for a Victoria Cross to remain in the public domain to inspire future generations.   Norman Jackson's deed was stuff that strip cartoons in boys' magazines are made of. What he did was amazing and feeds the imagination of both the young and those who lived through the war."

Experts who believed Mr Jackson's story could see his VC fetch a record amount at the auction were proved correct when it was sold today for £230,000 at Spink Auction House, Bloomsbury.

April 30, 2004