John Alexander Cruickshank

Flying Officer John Alexander Cruickshank was the only member of RAF Coastal Command to win the Victoria Cross, and lived to become the last surviving air-VC of the Second World War. Born in Aberdeen on 20 May 1920, he flew Consolidated Catalina flying boats with No. 210 Squadron from Sullom Voe in the Shetlands. On 17 July 1944, far out over the Norwegian Sea, he attacked and sank the German submarine U-361. His Catalina was hit by the U-boat’s anti-aircraft fire on the run-in; the navigator was killed and Cruickshank himself was struck in seventy-two places, with serious wounds to his lungs and lower limbs. Refusing morphia so that he could stay clear-headed, he held on through the long flight home, helped bring the flying boat back to base and remained conscious until it was safely beached. He recovered, survived the war and died on 16 August 2025 at the age of 105.