Plea to trace remaining relatives of heroine air stewardess Barbara
AN APPEAL has gone out to trace the remaining relatives of the only woman ever to be awarded the George Cross in peacetime.
The charity Memorial Mob is planning to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the death of Barbara Jane Harrison, who was given the gallantry award posthumously for her heroic actions during a fatal plane fire at Heathrow Airport in 1968.
The air stewardess, who was born in Bradford and grew up in both Scarborough and Doncaster, sacrificed her life to remain with passengers trapped on the stricken British Overseas Airways Corporation aircraft she was working on.
The Memorial Mob wish to trace any remaining relatives of Miss Harrison, who was only 22 and unmarried when she died.
Soon after take-off, one of the plane’s engines caught fire and fell from the port wing. The pilot managed to land the aircraft, but fire soon spread.
She helped evacuated passengers and those on the ground witnessed ‘flames and smoke licking around her face’ as she continued to push people out of the plane.
She was seen preparing to jump herself, but at the last moment and returned back to help passengers still trapped.
Only four women in history have ever received the medal, three of them Special Operations Executive in the Second World War.
Her mother died during her childhood and she had an elder sister, Susan, who was born in 1941.
If you are related to Miss Harrison, email thememorialmob@ aol.com