Happy 101st Birthday John Alexander Cruickshank, VC, born on May 20th 1920 in Aberdeen.
Yes you read that correctly, John "Jock" Cruikshank is 101.
It sounds like a Boy’s Own storyline, yet while there was nothing comical about the ordeal faced by John Alexander Cruickshank during a mission over Norway in 1944, they were highlighted in a Commando-style cartoon strip in the 1980s.
The former Aberdeen Grammar school pupil, was involved in one of the most audacious acts of the conflict when he flew his Catalina aircraft through a torrential hail of flak. And, although his first pass was unsuccessful, he brought it around for a second sortie, this time straddling a U-boat and sinking the vessel.
However, the German anti-aircraft fire proved fatally accurate in response, killing the navigator and injuring four others, including both Flight Lieutenant Cruickshank and second pilot, Flight Sergeant Jack Garnett.
The Granite City pilot, who was just 24, suffered scores of different injuries while he and his comrades were engaged in sinking the German submarine, and, although their had succeeded in their first objective, there was another huge task in trying to return home safely to Sulom Voe, Shetland.
Cruikshank was educated at The Royal High School (RHS) of Edinburgh, Aberdeen Grammar School Stewart's Melville College in Edinburgh, his working life began when he was apprenticed to The Commercial Bank of Scotland on George Street Edinburgh, many of you will know the building nowadays as The Dome.
Looking back over 75 years ago it is amazing that Jock Cruikshank not only survived the mission, but is still alive today, he was hit in 72 places, and suffered serious lung injuries and 10 penetrating wounds to his lower limbs. Yet, despite this panoply of pain, he refused medical attention until he was sure that the appropriate radio signals had been sent and the aircraft was on course for its home base. Even at that stage, he refused morphine, aware that it would cloud his judgement and potentially jeopardise the rest of the men on board.
Flying through the night, it took the damaged craft five-and-a-half hours to get back to Sullom Voe, with Flt Sgt Garnett at the controls and his colleague lapsing in and out of consciousness in the back. Eventually, though, as another major hurdle came into the equation, he returned to the cockpit and took command of the aircraft.
There was nothing straightforward about ensuring the Catalina’s passage homewards; it had been impacted badly along with the crew members.
But, after deciding that the light and the sea conditions for a water landing were too risky for his inexperienced colleague, Flt Lt Cruickshank kept the craft in the air for as long he could, circling for an extra hour, as the prelude to bringing it down successfully on the water and ferrying the plane to an area where it could be safely beached.
It was an astonishing act of bravery, and yet Mr Cruickshank has always shunned the limelight or refused to take any credit for his actions. As one of his RAF colleagues later recalled, he felt he was one of the lucky ones to survive the conflict, unlike so many of his RAF friends who perished.
The brave pilot was later awarded the Victoria Cross at the Palace of Holyrood House by King George VI.
You can view a re-enactment in this docu-drama on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mraRXjjIAUc
Jock Cruikshank is the last surviving World War Two Victoria Cross hero
