SERVICE PERSON DETAILS
Service Person’s Name
Rank
Service Number
Regiment/Unit or
Ship or Squadron
Date of Birth
Place of Birth
Family Details
Age at Enlistment
Place of Enlistment
Date of Death
Place of Death
Cemetery or
Memorial Name
Grave or Memorial
Number
John Francis Jackson
Squadron Leader
493
No. 3 Squadron
No. 75 Squadron
23 February 1908
Brisbane
Brothers: Leslie, Arthur and Edward Jackson
Mother: Edith Jackson
Father: William Jackson
Wife: Elisabeth Jackson (nee Thompson)
Children: 1 son and 1 daughter
28
Brisbane
28 April 1942
Near Port Moresby, PNG
Bomana War Cemetery
Unknown

PHOTO
:
John Francis Jackson (far right), 1941,
North Africa, Image sources from
Wikipedia and Australia’s War
Where JF Jackson lays to rest.
Photographer unknown. Sourced from the National Archives.
JF Jackson, 1939, Middle east. Image Wikipedia
The 75 Squadron, JF Jackson is back left and his brother Les in front, second from the left. Image,
Wikipedia

SERVICE PERSON’S STORY/EULOGY:
Prepared by Elly McSwan
John Francis Jackson was born in Brisbane in 1908. He studied at Brisbane Grammar school and Scots
College, Warwick. Jackson was inspired by the 1934 air show to be a pilot. He took part in the Adelaide
Centenary air race, in 1936. Then on 11 August 1936 he joined the RAAF reserves, with whom he served with until 1 October 1939. In February of 1938, John Francis married Elisabeth Thompson in North
Adelaide. Together they had a son and a daughter.
He enlisted for World War II at the age of 31 in 1939. Prior to that he was a grazier but he also owned his own private plane. When the war started he was living in St George, Queensland, and volunteered right at the start. His three brothers Arthur, Edward and Leslie all joined the RAAF in the same year though Arthur was killed just a month later. He started his military career in the Middle East with the No 3 Squadron. He was soon awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and was highly regarded with his skills as a pilot. All together he commanded eight successful air battles. In 1941 he was promoted to Flight Lieutenant and served with his younger brother, Ed, in the No.3 Squadron.
JF Jackson was then sent back to Australia and posted to Point Cook as a flying instructor. However, he immediately asked to be posted to a squadron where he believed his skills would be in better use. While he was still in Point Cook he wrote to his wife saying ‘I just loathe this joint. This training is a tough job and I take my hat off to the boys who have been doing it since war broke out ... every one of these instructors is longing to be sent overseas, but I doubt if they have any chance of ever getting there—they are so valuable here’. At the start of 1942 he commanded the 75 th Kittyhawk Squadron in Port Moresby.
During their downtime, the 75 th Squadron would play around in the rivers with the locals, paddling in the locals boats with them. This can be seen in footage filmed by JF Jackson between March and April of 1942.
On 10 April 1942, Jackson took off from Moresby. When he failed to return he was labelled as missing. Four days later news came through that he had made a successful forced landing and had made his way through the jungle and contacted the New Guinea Volunteer Rifles and returned to duty.
Soon after, on 28 April at 10:40 he led seven Kittyhawks off to intercept eight Japanese bombers. Two
Kittyhawks were observed to be diving at a steep angle. Neither pilot returned to base. One of these pilots was JF Jackson - in combat he was shot down and crashed at Mount Lawes, near Port Moresby. Three days later another Australian soldier, Lieutenant Ethall, came across the plane’s wreckage. He observed the plane to have crashed into the side of the mountain at great speed, the plane was six feet into the ground and the engine spread over a large area. A size nine boot was found along with the butt of a Walther revolver. JF Jackson was known to use a Walther revolver and to wear size nine shoes. The other pilot that crashed, F/O. Cox was known to have had a much smaller build than JF Jackson and most certainly not wear size nine’s. Neither pilot returned to base, so it was concluded that the two planes that crashed had belonged to Squadron Leader JF Jackson and F/O. Cox.
During his war career he received many promotions. He started as a Flight Officer, then to a Flying Officer
(30 April 1940), then to Flight Lieutenant (1 July 1941), then finally to Squadron Leader (19 March 1942).
He received the Distinguished Flying Cross and Mentioned in Dispatches
Jackson’s life was commemorated by the opening of the Jackson International Airport in Port Moresby.
Papers from the National Archives quote Jackson as a ‘Highly regarded fighter pilot, a born leader and an inspiration to others’. He is buried at the Bomana War Cemetery, Port Moresby.
He was nicknamed ‘Old John’ because of his many years. After his death, his younger brother Les took over the 43 rd Squadron.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Australian War Memorial 2013, John Francis Jackson, Australian Government, Canberra, accessed
1 February 2015, http://www.awm.gov.au/people/P10679707/
Flying Squadron 1941, Photograph, Wikipedia, accessed 29 January 2015, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:008320No.3SquadronJun41.jpg
Jackson, Port Morseby 1942, Photograph, Wikipedia, accessed 29 January 2015, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Francis_Jackson
JF Jackson 2002, National Archives of Australia, accessed 28 January 2015, http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/DetailsReports/ItemDetail.aspx?Barcode=1055
072&isAv=N
John Francis Jackson 1941, Photograph, Australian Imperial Force, accessed 29 January 2015, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Francis_Jackson
John Francis Jackson 2014, Wikipedia, accessed 29 January 2015, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Francis_Jackson .
Jackson, J 1942, ‘Scenes at Port Moresby March-April 1942 taken by Squadron Leader J F Jackson DFC’,
Australian War Memorial, online video, accessed 21 February 2015, http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/F04911/