The daughter of an Australian pilot has thanked an Aberdeen war hero for the “miracle” rescue of her dad after his plane was downed nearly 80 years ago.
Flt Lt John Cruickshank won the Victoria Cross for his courage in sinking a U-boat off Norway in 1944.
The achievements of the former Aberdeen banker were celebrated last month, as well-wishers from all corners of the north-east marked his 100th birthday.
Despite being awarded Britain’s highest military honour, Mr Cruickshank has never been one to recognise his Second World War actions as anything remarkable.
But Marilyn Marrows-Voullaire – whose father the Aberdonian saved the year prior – has to disagree.
Having seen the coverage of Mr Cruickshank’s milestone birthday in The P&J, Mrs Marrows-Voullaire got in touch to share another story of his valour.
In September 1943, Flt Lt Dudley Marrows and his Royal Australian Air Force men had been shot down in their Short Sunderland flying boat bomber in the Bay Of Biscay, near the Spanish coast.
The aircraft had been returning to base from a patrol in Portugal when it was set upon by six German Junkers Ju 88 bombers.
Cramped into a single life raft, the 11 men sat stranded in bad weather, cold and wet, for 18 hours before they were spotted.
It was a searching Catalina anti-submarine flying boat, captained by Mr Cruickshank, that finally found them despite low cloud and a rising sea.
Mrs Marrows-Voullaire said: “My dad considered it a miracle that the Catalina found them as the last known position of his Sunderland was miles from where the raft was.
“My gratitude needs to go to Flt Lt John Cruickshank VC and his crew for finding my dad’s crew, huddled in so that they could not only continue to fight another day but to live valuable and significant lives after the war.
“He always considered himself and his crew to be among the lucky ones, as 18 Sunderlands were shot down over a two-year period and very few of the crew members survived.”
Mr Cruickshank would go on to earn the Victoria Cross the following July, as he flew his Catalina through a storm of anti-aircraft fire to sink the U-boat.
Suffering no fewer than 72 gunshot wounds, including injuries to his lungs and legs, the then-24-year-old waved away medical attention until he was sure the aircraft was on a course for base in Sullom Voe.
He still refused morphine for the pain, until he had seen the Catalina safely back on the ground more than six hours later.
Mrs Marrows-Voullaire added: “It is the bravery of men like Flt Lt John Cruickshank and Flt Lt Dudley Marrows that emboldens us today.
“My dad passed away in March 2019, aged 101, but I know he would have wanted to wish John the very best for his 100th birthday.
“He, and his crew, owed their lives to Flt Lt John Cruickshank and his crew.”
Mr Marrows was awarded the Distinguished Service Order, Distinguished Flying Cross, Legion d’Honneur for his wartime service.
