Sergeant John Archibald Beckett GC (14 March 1906 – 12 April 1947) was a recipient of the

George Cross The George Cross (GC) is the highest award bestowed by the British government for non-operational gallantry or gallantry not in the presence of an enemy. In the British honours system, the George Cross, since its introduction in 1940, has been ...

and a

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

airman.

Earlier years

John Beckett was born in Lurgan,

County Armagh County Armagh (, named after its county town, Armagh) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the southern shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and ha ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, the son of Samuel Nicholl Beckett and Elizabeth Swanton Beckett. He was educated at St. Enoch's Public Elementary School,

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

. Beckett worked as a fitter for the Coombe Barbour textiles company and at the Harland and Wolff shipyard.

In the RAF

Beckett joined in the Royal Air Force in or around January 1935. In 1940 he was evacuated from France and he then served in Canada for two years. In 1944 his duties took him to Egypt and then in 1946, to Palestine.

The deed

On the night of 28 March 1947 at Ein Shemer Air Headquarters in the Levant, Sergeant Beckett was the driver of a refuelling vehicle which was refuelling a Lancaster of No. 38 Squadron. Suddenly, a violent fire broke out in the vehicle's pumping compartment; flames enveloped Sergeant Beckett and set alight the front of the Lancaster's fuselage. Another airman beat out the flames on Sergeant Beckett but not before the latter had sustained very severe burns on the hands and face. There was a grave danger that the main tank of the refuelling vehicle would explode, killing or seriously injuring personnel who were working in the vicinity and destroying the twenty or more aircraft in the park. Mindful of this danger and in considerable pain, Beckett got into the driver's seat of the blazing vehicle and drove it a distance of about four hundred yards to a point where it could do no further damage. At this point Beckett collapsed and he was taken by ambulance to the Station's Sick Quarters in a dangerously ill condition. The fires in the Lancaster and in the vehicle were eventually brought under control and extinguished with no further damage to persons or property. Beckett died of his injuries on 12 April 1947.

References

Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – George Cross Holders

External links

CWGC: John Archibaid Beckett
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beckett, John Archibald 1906 births 1947 deaths Royal Air Force recipients of the George Cross British recipients of the George Cross Royal Air Force airmen People from Lurgan Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Accidental deaths in Israel Military personnel from County Armagh