Final WWII VC Holder Boards his PBY for Home
Flying Officer John Alexander Cruickshank (126700), Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, late of No. 210 Squadron, has passed at the age of 105.
Born in Aberdeen in 1920, he joined the Territorials in Scotland at age 19. Once the war started, he served in the Royal Artillery until his transfer to the RAFVR came through in the summer of 1941. Following flight training in Canada, he joined 210 Squadron, piloting PBY Catalinas out of windswept RAF Sullom Voe in Shetland on ASW duties in the North Atlantic.
It was while supporting Operation Mascot, one of the myriad attempts to sink the Tirpitz in her Norwegian lair, 17 July 1944, that Cruickshank’s PBY, JV928 Y, encountered German type VIIC submarine U-361 (Kptlt. Hans Seidel) west of the Lofoten Islands.
The first bombing run, through fierce AAA fire from the surfaced U-boat, riddled the PBY but failed as the bombs did not release. This required an even more dangerous second run, lacking the element of surprise.
Photograph taken from Consolidated Catalina Mark IVA, JV928 ‘Y’, of No. 210 Squadron RAF during an attack on German type VIIC submarine U-361 west of the Lofoten Islands. IWM C 4590
The swirling battle sent U-361 to the bottom of the Norwegian Sea, with Seidel and all 51 hands.
As for the PBY, JV928 Y suffered one crewman killed (Flying Officer J.C. Dickson, navigator/bombardier) and four more wounded, Cruickshank among them. Despite being hit by shrapnel in 72 places, including twice in the lungs and ten serious wounds in the legs, Cruickshank somehow refused morphia and remained in the cockpit beside the co-pilot until his damaged aircraft, full of dead and dying, made it some five hours back to the Shetlands and landed safely.
He earned Coastal Command’s third Victoria Cross, the others being posthumous.
Post-war, he left the service and went into banking. In 2020, he became the first VC holder to reach the age of 100, setting a new bar.
