John Hannah

Flight Sergeant, wireless operator and air gunner of No. 83 Squadron RAF, and the youngest person ever awarded the Victoria Cross for action in the air. Born on 27 November 1921 in Paisley, Scotland. On the night of 15-16 September 1940 his Handley Page Hampden took part in a raid on the invasion barges massing in the port of Antwerp. After the bombs were released the aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire and a fire started in the bomb bay. The navigator and rear gunner baled out. Hannah, who was eighteen, stayed. He fought the fire with the extinguishers and, when they were exhausted, with his bare hands and his logbook until the flames were beaten out, suffering severe burns to his face and hands. He then went forward to help the pilot fly the aircraft, the instruments and charts having burned. The Hampden returned to base. His Victoria Cross was gazetted on 1 October 1940. His burns and broken health led to a medical discharge in 1942. He died of tuberculosis on 9 June 1947, aged twenty-five.