Sergeant (A/G) 651960 John Angus Jackson 14, Operational Training Unit, Cottesmore was born 1921 the son of Angus D and Margaret nee Gray 9 Olive Street Sunderland.

Sgt Jackson had been in the Air Force for eighteen months when the 19th of August 1940 he was flying on a Navex (Navigation Exercise) in Hampden P1305 when it dived almost vertically into the ground entering cloud near the Dower House, Melchbourne, Bedfordshire.

The exact cause of the crash was not ascertained but it was probably due to “loss of control when entering cloud”.

All on board the aircraft were killed and all rest close together, four of twenty eight Commonwealth War casualties in Cardington (St Mary) Churchyard, Bedfordshire. Sgt (P) 754664 John Bishop, aged 20 the son of the Reverend L Cornewell Bishop and Daisy Bishop of Kensington; Sgt (P) 754172 Stanley Britnor RAFVR, the son of Harlod and Gertrude Britnor and husband of Frances Eileen Britnor of Allerton, Leeds, Yorkshire; Sgt (A/G) 651960 John Angus Jackson; P/O (P) 81356 William Euerby King aged 20, the son of Thomas William and Lillian Isabel King of Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire.

A propeller was taken from the crash site and placed in the church in Melchbourne, Bedfordshire as a memorial to the crew.