Jackson, Patrick Bernard (Oral history)

British officer served as pilot with 825 Naval Air Sqdn, Fleet Air Arm in GB, aboard HMS Furious in North Sea, 8/1940-12/1940; served with 825 Naval Air Sqdn, Fleet Air Arm aboard HMS Argus in North Atlantic, 12/1940-2/1941; served with 825 Naval Air Sqdn, Fleet Air Arm aboard HMS Victorious in North Atlantic, 5/1941; commanded 13th Carrier Air Group, Fleet Air Arm aboard HMS Triumph off Korea, 6/1950-9/1950

REEL 1 Aspects of enlistment and training with Royal Navy in GB, 1938-1939: membership of 28th (County of London) Bn, London Regt (Artists Rifles), Territorial Army in London, 1936-1938; enlistment in Royal Navy, 1938; training aboard training ship, HMS Frobisher at Portsmouth, 1939. Aspects of period as pilot of Fleet Air Arm in GB and France, 1939-1940: torpedo training with Torpedo Development Unit, RAF at Royal Naval Air Station Gosport; story of how he broke his ankle in accident in Toulon, France, 1940; return to Torpedo Development School, RAF at Royal Naval Air Station Gosport; duties as instructor at HMS Sanderling, Royal Naval Air Station Abbotsinch, 1940. Aspects of operations as pilot with 825 Naval Air Sqdn, Fleet Air Arm aboard HMS Furious in North Sea, 8/1940-12/1940: anti-shipping patrols off coast of Norway; attack on Norwegian ship working for Germans, 7/9/1940; anti submarine patrols. Aspects of operations as pilot with 825 Naval Air Sqdn, Fleet Air Arm aboard HMS Argus in North Atlantic, 12/1940-2/1941: joining aircraft carrier, 12/1940; convoy defence in North Atlantic based on Gibraltar, 12/1940; threat of German heavy cruisers to North Atlantic convoy, 12/12/1950; recapitulation of 1940 operations with extra detail provided by log book; army co-operation work at HMS Sanderling, Royal Naval Air Station Abbotsinch, 2/1941; RAF pilots flying aboard HMS Furious. Recollections of operations as pilot with 825 Naval Air Sqdn, Fleet Air Arm aboard HMS Victorious during pursuit of German battleship Bismarck in North Atlantic, 5/1941: sight of HMS Hood and HMS Prince of Wales racing from Scotland to intercept Bismarck; operating from HMS Victorious; his Fairey Swordfish attack on Bismarck, 24/5/1941-25/5/1941. REEL 2 Continues: search for Bismarck after HMS Norfolk and HMS Suffolk had lost her on radar, 25/5/1941; failure to find HMS Victorious and ditching into sea next to lifeboat. Aspects of period in lifeboat in North Atlantic, 5/1941-6/1941: provisions aboard lifeboat; question of whether to head east or west; sailing through debris of submarine attack on convoy; what had been salvaged from Fairey Swordfish; encounter with Scandinavians in small boat heading for Greenland; air gunner's problems with legs; rescue by Icelandic ship SS Lagarfoss, 3/6/1941 or 4/6/1941 after nine and half days in lifeboat; how his Roman Catholic religion sustained hope of survival; question of rationing provisions in lifeboat; hallucinations aboard lifeboat; recapitulation of aspects of his attack on German battleship Bismarck, 25/5/1941. REEL 3 Continues: recovery from lifeboat ordeal, 1941; lack of operational work, 1941-1945. Recollections of operations commanding 13th Carrier Air Group, Fleet Air Arm aboard HMS Triumph off Korea, 6/1950-9/1950: role as commander of group; outbreak of Korean War, 6/1950; attacks on North Korean ground forces; problem of lack of accurate maps; air spotting for American forces during landings at Inchon, South Korea, 15/9/1950-19/9/1950; problems with Supermarine Seafire; attacks on shipping in River Taedong at Pyongyang, North Korea.