[1] The Gunters also adopted Geoffrey Oliver Hartley, who in 1951 was awarded the George Medal as a Federation of Malaya police lieutenant for protecting his party, which included three children, from bandits.

Having bombed the target, Jackson's Lancaster (serial ME669) was attacked by a German night fighter and a fuel tank in the starboard wing caught fire.

He suffered further injuries upon landing, including a broken ankle, but managed to crawl to a nearby German village the next morning, where he was paraded through the street.

[disputed – discuss] Jackson's exploit became known when the surviving crewmen of his bomber were released from German captivity at the end of the war.

"[5] Extract from Fourth Supplement, The London Gazette No 37324 of Friday 26 October 1945: The KING has been graciously pleased to confer the VICTORIA CROSS in recognition of most conspicuous bravery to:- 905192 Sergeant (Now Warrant Officer) Norman Cyril Jackson R.A.F.V.R., 106 Squadron.

Pushing a hand fire-extinguisher into the top of his life-saving jacket and clipping on his parachute pack, Sergeant Jackson jettisoned the escape hatch above the pilot's head.

Before he could leave the fuselage his parachute pack opened and the whole canopy and rigging lines spilled into the cockpit.

The pilot (Fred Mifflin), bomb aimer (Maurice Toft) and navigator (Frank Higgins) gathered the parachute together and held on to the rigging lines, paying them out as the airman crawled aft.

After ten months in hospital he made a good recovery, though his hands require further treatment and are only of limited use.

This airman's attempt to extinguish the fire and save the aircraft and crew from falling into enemy hands was an act of outstanding gallantry.

To venture outside, when travelling at 200 miles an hour, at a great height and in intense cold, was an almost incredible feat.

Jackson died on 26 March 1994 at Hampton Hill, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, and is buried in Twickenham Cemetery.

[7] In April 2004, Jackson's VC medal was sold at auction to Lord Ashcroft for £235,250 (GBP) against a pre-auction estimate of £130,000.

[4] Norman Jackson's son appeared in the episode on his father's crew in Lord Ashcroft's documentary series Heroes of the Skies (broadcast on Channel Five on 4 October 2012), as well as the Discovery Channel's Air Aces (premiering October 2013), and Air Aces:Full Throttle (premiering 17 March 2014).