 Mr Jackson survived a 20,000ft fall |
The family of a World War II airman who risked his life to save the crew of a Lancaster bomber is being forced to sell his Victoria Cross. Norman Jackson, a 25-year-old flight engineer, climbed out of the cockpit to try to put out flames as his plane came under fire from a German fighter.
Mr Jackson, of Ealing, west London, left the medal to his wife who did not specify a recipient in her will.
The family wanted to give the medal, worth more than �140,000, to a museum.
It is now up for sale at Spink auction house in Bloomsbury, west London, on 30 April.
Mr Jackson was awarded the medal in 1945. As he tried to put out the flames on the wing, he fell 20,000ft but survived, and managed to crawl to a village close to the site of bombing raids on the town of Schweinfurt in Germany.
He sustained horrific burns and injuries and had to spend 10 months in hospital before being sent to a prisoner of war camp.
Mr Jackson was presented with his Victoria Cross by King George VI.
He died in 1994 and had bequeathed his medals to his wife Alma, who died in August last year.
 The medal is being auctioned later in April |
The couple's seven children learned that she had not specified who should receive the Victoria Cross which meant that legally their options were limited to either storing it or it being sold by Mrs Jackson's executors.
The children had hoped to offer their father's medals to the RAF Museum in Hendon, north London, which had planned to add them to its existing collection.
Didy Grahame, secretary of the Victoria Cross and George Cross Association, said: "What one hopes and wants is for a Victoria Cross to remain in the public domain to inspire future generations.
"Norman Jackson's deed was stuff that strip cartoons in boys' magazines are made of.
"What he did was amazing and feeds the imagination of both the young and those who lived through the war."
Experts believe Mr Jackson's story could see his VC fetch a record amount at the auction.
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What he did was amazing and feeds the imagination of both the young and those who lived through the war 
