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Alex has spent a lifetime in the sewing industry and is considered one of the foremost experts of pioneering machines and their inventors. He has written extensively for trade magazines, radio, television, books and publications world wide.
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You may wonder why I have added this page about J. K. Ross on my sewing site. In Eastbourne Auctions, where I occasionally search for my antique sewing machines, I picked up a piece from one of his hurricanes that had crashed after being shot down at Rochester in 1940. I was immediately fascinated. I was surprised to find almost no information about the young lad that had fought and died so bravely to protect our country. I have put down what I could find out in the hope that it may help a family relative who is searching for more information.
Battle of Britain Never in the field of human conflict have so many owed so much too so few. Winston Churchill Pilot Officer J K Ross, 79163, DFC, Green Section 17 Squadron Hurricane Mk1 P3536 A Hawker Hurricane Mk 1 in 17 Squadron markings
Pilot Officer Jack Kenneth Ross DFC was a veteran of the air battles over Dunkirk. He was one of 'The Few'. 2927 young men from Great Britain and overseas, pilots and aircrew, who are officially recognised as having taken part in the Battle of Britain. These men fought hard and died young. Amazingly we sit here today due to their sacrifice. Had Britain lost in the air invasion was already planned. Invasion of Britain would have been the final goal of domination in Europe by Hitler. This in turn would have led to Germany having time to finish development of their nuclear weapons, something that was thankfully cut short. Had Germany succeeded in being the first to gain Nuclear weaponry their domination of the world would have been complete. All this failed due to those splendid young men and women who died for freedom, our freedom. This is the story of Jack. 17 Squadron received their first Hurricanes in the June of 1939. In June 1940 Jack's squadron was in Brittany defending the remnants of the British Expeditionary Force as they were being evacuated from the beaches of Dunkirk. Constant attacks by German planes on the retreating forces were hampered by pilots running skirmishes along the coast. This helped over 300,000 troops to escape capture by the rampaging advance of the enemy. Pilot Officer Ross was flying a hawker hurricane, a single-seat fighter of the Royal Air Force. The hurricanes saw more action in the Second World War than any other type of aircraft and with their eight Browning machine-guns they shot down more enemy airplanes than any other fighter. The success of the Hurricane has placed it among the great airplanes of all time. After heavy fighting in France the Squadron returned to Debden on the 2nd of September 1940. This was the start of the enemy invasion of Britain. Firstly the airfields were to be demolished, then the infrastructure, then Operation Sealion. The mass invasion of Great Britain. Without air supremacy a land invasion was impossible. Unlike many of the Squadrons, No 17 Squadron was not rested but fought all the way through the Battle of Britain. On the 7th October German bombers set London Docks ablaze. Sunday 13th of October 1940 The day started with early fog, clearing to a fine morning with broken cloud thickening later in the day. London and Kent were under constant attack by enemy aircraft some dropping parachute mines with devastating effect on civilian targets. A convoy was attacked off the East coast followed by raids over Thames estuary and Kent. At 12.48 hours Green section of 17 Squadron was once again scrambled to intercept enemy aircraft. Around 25 enemy aircraft came over the Channel at Hythe toward Lympne. At 13.35hrs, two more waves of over 30 flew up the Medway. The first wave penetrated to Central London but the second were intercepted at Dartford and repelled with heavy losses. As fighting became intense and the skies became patchy with cloud, Pilot Officer Ross was hit by our Anti Aircraft fire. He bailed out of his stricken Hurricane P3536 at 13:50hrs. Pilot Officer Ross was wounded but parachuted to safety. His plane crashed into the Medway river bank at Rochester at 13.54hrs. Pilot Officer Ross was rushed to Gravesend Hospital. In a fury, Operation Sealion was called off by Hitler who looked East for domination of Russia and their oilfields. Britain was temporarily safe as long as no weapon of mass destruction was available. Russia was now under attack. At the First Protocol Moscow Conference, Britain decided to send 200 aircraft a month, between October 1941 and June 1942, to help Russia survive the onslaught. Jack survived his crash and after a period of recuperation he once more returned to active duty. His skill and experience was dearly needed. From snippets of information from relatives I have gathered this information. I am not sure how accurate it is. What was left of the depleted 17 Squadron joined with the newly re-formed 134 Squadron out of Leconfield in the summer of 1941. The Squadron was to form part of 151 Wing bound for Russia. Training operations began at Vaenga in September and Jack, though almost half the size of some of the Russian pilots soon showed his worth and technical skills. In October,a few miles from Murmansk Sound, the planes that the Squadron had brought with them were officially handed over to the Russians. I bet there was some vodka and celebrations that night! In December 1941 the Squadron gathered Spitfires and Hurricanes at Catterick to take to Northern Ireland, arriving in January 1942. This is the last little bit that I could find out... Pilot Officer Jack Kenneth Ross DFC was killed in action a few days later on 6th Jan 1942, possibly over the Irish Sea. I could find no details about how he died and would love to be able to add the final part to his brief and turbulent life. If you have any information about him please mail me: alexsussex@aol.com There is a memorial with Jack's name at Runnymede. From the Photo below only Bird-Wilson survived 17 Squadron. He once recalled his fear as his squadron of 12 Hurricanes faced down over 100 German planes. Bird-Wilson was one of the lucky few who survived the war. Green Wing 17 Squadron 1940.
Left to right. Sgt G A Steward, KIA 23/10/1941. P/O D H Wissler, KIA 11/11/1940. P/O J K Ross, KIA 6/01/1942. F/O H A C Bird-Wilson survived. Sqd Ldr C W Williams KIA 25/08/1940. Sgt D A Sewell KIA 19/03/1944. Flt Lt Jack Ross was a formidable flyer with several German aircraft under his belt. What he lost in height he made up with in determination and skill. He is one of our heroes. I raise my hat to those special few that sacrificed their young lives so that we may live free. The End
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Well that's it, I do hope you enjoyed my work.
I spend countless hours researching and writing these pages and I love to hear from
people so drop me a line and let me know what you thought: alexsussex@aol.com
Hello Alex
I don't know how to address you so I will
start with 'Hello'.
I would like to tell you how interested I
was to read the information regarding Jack Ross. It was forwarded to
me by a Canadian 'cousin' who is related to Jack the same way as
myself, being descended from one of the fifteen children of James's
Ross of St.Helier, Jersey, who was Jack's grandfather. I believe that
she came across it by 'accident'!
My father was the son of Ivy Ross, the
sister of Jack's father, Kenneth. Several years after the death of my
mother my father went on to marry his cousin Joan, who was Jack's
sister. I well remember the photo of Jack in one of our bedrooms, but
all Joan ever said was that he had been her favourite sibling.
My two sons-in-law have also had a look
and been interested. One has a brother who has served in the RAF in
Afghanistan and Iraq, and the other, who is keen on family history,
has unearthed quite a bit about the Hurricane squadron with whom Jack
flew.
So...... I would like to thank you very
much for helping us to know a bit more about Jack. It makes the 11th
of November all the more poignant, when Jack is remembered, with other
family who gave their lives in WW1/ WW2.
Thank you
Jennifer Nunn
Fancy a funny read: Ena Wilf & The One-Armed Machinist A brilliant slice of 1940's life: Spies & Spitfires
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CONTACT: alexsussex@aol.com Copyright © |
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