GEORGE MELVILLE-JACKSONWing Commander George Melville-Jackson, who died on 7 March, 2009, aged 89, was a veteran pilot of the Second World War.He specialised in flying escort sorties, protecting other planes and boats, first in the Battle of Britain with No 236 Squadron and then with No 248 Squadron in the Mediterranean theatre, guarding crucial supply frigates and oil tankers and attacking enemy bases.George Holmes Melville-Jackson was born on 23 November, 1919, in Weston-super-Mare. He was educated at St Lawrence College, Ramsgate and joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve in June 1938 to train as a pilot.During the war he flew heavy the Bristol Beaufighter from Malta and over the Bay of Biscay (where he earned a Distinguished Flying Cross) and later the more sprightly de Havilland Mosquito with No 618 Squadron who helped develop a small version of the bouncing bomb intended to target battleships.In the final stages of the war his squadron moved to Australia and after the Japanese surrender he commanded No 47 Squadron against Indonesian rebels.He left the military in 1946, studied at Cambridge and was briefly a teacher before rejoining the RAF in 1952, flying in Germany and America. In later life he was an active member of the Britain Fighter Association and helped unveil the Battle of Britain monument on the Victoria Embankment in London.He had been a keen historian all his life and in 2005 he made the news when he wrote to the Home Secretary Charles Clarke calling for Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII's second wife, to be pardoned of the ‘crimes’ that saw her beheaded. Despite support from the history community, the appeal was turned down.In his spare time Wg Cdr Melville-Jackson also enjoyed sailing and owned five boats. He was married to Elizabeth Whyte between 1946 and her death in 2005. He was survived by their son who also flew in the RAF.
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