In the name of duty: what it takes to be a British hero
Only the bravest people are honoured with the George Cross or Victoria Cross, Joe Shute reports
Courage (noun) the ability to do something that frightens one – is something we often associate with those in uniform. Typically, though, it is military dress rather than the jaunty hats of the air stewardesses of the BOAC (the forerunner to British Airways) that springs to mind.
However, the afternoon of April 8 1968 changed all of that when flight BOAC 712 left
Heathrow bound for
Sydney with 115 passengers on board.
As soon as they were airborne, one of its engines caught fire and part of the wing began to dissolve. The plane crash-landed at Heathrow with smoke and flames billowing along the fuselage.
Barbara Jane Harrison, a 22-year-old d born in Bradford known simply as Jane, was a stewardess on board that day. After the crash-landing she stationed herself near an escape chute pushing passengers down as the fire intensified to the point where visibility was near nil.
When the escape chute caught fire, she directed passengers towards the front of the plane. One panicked man recalled her throwing him out of the side with flames and smoke licking her face.
As the last crew member on board, she tried to assist four passengers at the back, including a disabled woman and an eight-year-old girl.
Several eyewitnesses recall her standing in the doorway preparing to jump, before retreating back into the inferno in one last attempt to help.
Her body was later recovered with those of the four she tried to save. Everyone else made it out alive.
The following year the Queen presented Harrison’s father with a posthumous George Cross (awarded for conspicuous courage in the face of extreme danger). She is one of four female recipients and the only one in peace time. The citation praised “a very brave young lady who gave her life in her utter devotion to duty”.
Harrison’s e extraordinary story is one of 28 to a appear in a new book, On Courage, commissioned by the Victoria Cross (VC) and George Cross (GC) Association, remembering some of the hero recipients of the two highest honours in Britain. Since its inception the VC has been awarded 1,363 times and the GC 168 times.
While the VC is solely a military honour, awarded for “gallantry in the presence of the enemy”, the GC is also available to civilians. As Harrison’s story shows, any one of us at any point is capable of extraordinary courage.
Next week the descendants of those recipients will gather for a service at St Martin-in-the-Fields. The Prince of Wales, the president of the VC and GC Association, will be in attendance, as will the Duchess of Cornwall. Jane Harrison’s sister, Sue Buck, will also be present. The 77-year-old, who lives with her husband near Scarborough, says her sibling had never previously displayed any particular bravery before that fateful day. She says: “I just like to think she rose to do her job.”
Each of the 28 stories in the book is introduced by a celebrity of note – from Jeremy Irons to Dame Kelly Holmes and Joanna Lumley.
Lord Fellowes, the Downton Abbey creator, introduces the story of Guy Gibson, the VC recipient and Dambusters pilot who led the famous Second World War attack on a series of German dams 75 years ago this week. He once admitted he “felt petrified” every time he sat in a cockpit.
For Lord Fellowes, such courage is the “ultimate example” of selfdiscipline. “You really can take yourself into a situation where you are terrified and yet you have such command of your body and sense and powers to render that not a deterrent and you can overcome your own fear,” he says.
Since the Victoria Cross was first introduced during the Crimean War Lord Fellowes says our concept of courage has changed as a society. Unlike the Victorians and Edwardians, he says, “we do not want our heroes to charge into battle with a smile and wink. We prefer ordinary men and women who have the power and self-control to conquer fear and terror.”
Another of the descendants attending Tuesday’s service is Stuart Mackenzie, whose grandfather Captain Charles Upham is the only soldier to have twice received the VC as a company commander with the New Zealand Division during the Second World War.
Mackenzie was 12 when his grandfather passed away. He recalls a “quiet and unassuming man” who was softly spoken apart from when discussing his great passion, rugby.
“Lot of bloody nonsense” was his response to a colleague congratulating him on his VC. He always claimed there were others equally heroic to his feats who had never received the recognition they deserved.
Upham never spoke to his family about his experiences but it was clear they were never far from his mind. Whenever he would visit, Mackenzie recalls his parents would leave their Mercedes on the corner as he prohibited anything German on his property: “He never forgave them.”