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One historical figure you find inspirational
- Thread starter Mowgli37
- Start date
LargeHadronZugzwang
Active member
William Tyndale
Burned as a heretic, probably by Patron Saint of Politicians; Sir Thomas More.
Many of the phrases we use in the English language come from Tyndale.
Burned as a heretic, probably by Patron Saint of Politicians; Sir Thomas More.
Many of the phrases we use in the English language come from Tyndale.
Recent Melvyn Bragg doc on telly was pretty amazing, titled Most dangerous man in Tudor England .
Tricky Dicky
New member
Einstein and Darwin (and of couse Timmy Mallet is right up there)
OzMike
Well-known member
Beethoven, most of his famous compositions were written when he was deaf, bloody amazing.
A close second would be the man who invented beer
A close second would be the man who invented beer
Norman Potting
Well-known member
Isambard Kingdom Brunel, closely followed by his dad, Marc Brunel who was an asylum seeker from France.
turienzo's lovechild
New member
- Oct 25, 2003
- 23,964
jesus christ
- Aug 7, 2003
- 8,090
Sir Isaac Newton
Basil Fawlty
Don't Mention The War
This great man! Henry the 8th.
- Jan 3, 2012
- 17,356
Although the OP meant Horatio, I think that most people who mention Mandela would be talking about his ability to be released from prison, get re-involved in politics, becoming President and to do what he could to unite a country which previously had been so sorely divided. There was no quest for revenge or whatever on the part of himself or his people, just the peace and reconciliation stuff which I believe he allowed to happen under Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
Reading about the acts of heroism carried out by recipients of the Victoria Cross since its inception have always filled me with admiration, but this one to me, is simply astonishing.
NORMAN CYRIL JACKSON
No. 106 Squadron
Sergeant Norman Cyril Jackson, R.A.F.V.R., No. 106 Squadron.
On 20 July 1943 Jackson joined his first squadron, No 106 based at Syerston, in Nottinghamshire, flying Lancasters. The crew settled down well together and by mid-November had completed 14 sorties against targets in Germany. In late November the Squadron was moved to Metheringham, in Lincolnshire, to continue its part in the night air offensive.
On a trip to Munich on 24 April 1944 Jackson flew his 30th sortie, having flown an extra operation with another crew when its flight engineer was indisposed. The others had one operation to do to complete their tour and Jackson cheerfully agreed to do one more sortie to stay with his friends on 26 April.
The target was Schweinfurt and the crew were in good humour, particularly Jackson who had earlier received a telegram informing that his wife, Alma, had just given birth to their first son, Ian. The Lancaster reached the target safely, dropped their bombs successfully and turned home at about 20,000 feet. Not long after they set course for home they were attacked by a Focke-Wulf 190 which raked them with cannon fire, and the starboard inner engine of the Lancaster burst into flames. Jackson pushed the button on his panel to operate the engine's fire extinguisher, and the flames died down: but seconds later the fire flared up again.
Jackson realised the danger of the fire igniting the adjacent petrol tanks in the wing. He suggested climbing out on to the wing with a fire extinguisher and Mifflin, struggling to control the damaged aircraft, accepted this incredible suggestion. Jackson's plan was to don his parachute, pull the ripcord inside the fuselage and have the navigator and bomb-aimer hang on to the cords of the chute and pay them out as he made his way on to the wing. He put on his chute and pulled the ripcord, stuffed a fire extinguisher inside his Mae West, and opened the dinghy escape hatch. The engine was still burning fiercely and Jackson looked for a handhold on the wing and saw the leading edge air intake ahead of him. Flinging himself forward he managed to grip the intake and hold on. He aimed the extinguisher into the engine cowling and the flames began to die down.
Suddenly he heard the sound of cannon fire and felt sharp pains in his legs and back - the FW190 had returned. The shock loosened his grip on the extinguisher which fell away and the fire again blazed up and swept over Jackson as he lay there. He lost his grip and the slipstream flung him backwards. He was pulled to a halt just behind the rear turret, being dragged and twisted behind the falling aircraft, held by the cords of the parachute. The cords, already smouldering from the burning engine, were being let out hurriedly by the navigator and bomb-aimer inside the fuselage before they could bail out.
Once Jackson was free of the aircraft he started grabbing at the lines with his bare hands to extinguish the smouldering cords. The main canopy was slashed and torn, burn- holes riddled the silk, as he continued his rapid descent. He hit the ground fairly hard, some bushes partially breaking his fall but an ankle seemed to be broken, his right eye was closed through burns and his hands were useless. At daybreak he crawled to a village nearby and knocked on the door of a house. A man opened the door and bawled at him in German, then two girls came out pushing the man aside. They took him inside and bathed his wounds; they were nurses from the local hospital. The rest of the crew had been rounded up. The pilot and rear gunner had been killed but the others were all right and they were all taken to a police station.
After 10 months in hospital Jackson made a good recovery, though his hands required further treatment, and he was then taken to PoW camp from which was eventually freed by the Americans in 1945.
At the end of the war, when the surviving crew members were repatriated, the full story of Jackson's remarkable bravery was disclosed. He was awarded the Victoria Cross on 26 October 1945 and went to Buckingham Palace the following month to receive his cross, alongside another VC, the celebrated Group Captain Leonard Cheshire.
As a footnote to this story, Channel 4 ran a series (last year I think) about RAF VCs in WW2, it came out that when Norman Jackson was informed he had been recommended for the VC his first reaction was "Why"?
A different breed.
NORMAN CYRIL JACKSON
No. 106 Squadron
Sergeant Norman Cyril Jackson, R.A.F.V.R., No. 106 Squadron.
On 20 July 1943 Jackson joined his first squadron, No 106 based at Syerston, in Nottinghamshire, flying Lancasters. The crew settled down well together and by mid-November had completed 14 sorties against targets in Germany. In late November the Squadron was moved to Metheringham, in Lincolnshire, to continue its part in the night air offensive.
On a trip to Munich on 24 April 1944 Jackson flew his 30th sortie, having flown an extra operation with another crew when its flight engineer was indisposed. The others had one operation to do to complete their tour and Jackson cheerfully agreed to do one more sortie to stay with his friends on 26 April.
The target was Schweinfurt and the crew were in good humour, particularly Jackson who had earlier received a telegram informing that his wife, Alma, had just given birth to their first son, Ian. The Lancaster reached the target safely, dropped their bombs successfully and turned home at about 20,000 feet. Not long after they set course for home they were attacked by a Focke-Wulf 190 which raked them with cannon fire, and the starboard inner engine of the Lancaster burst into flames. Jackson pushed the button on his panel to operate the engine's fire extinguisher, and the flames died down: but seconds later the fire flared up again.
Jackson realised the danger of the fire igniting the adjacent petrol tanks in the wing. He suggested climbing out on to the wing with a fire extinguisher and Mifflin, struggling to control the damaged aircraft, accepted this incredible suggestion. Jackson's plan was to don his parachute, pull the ripcord inside the fuselage and have the navigator and bomb-aimer hang on to the cords of the chute and pay them out as he made his way on to the wing. He put on his chute and pulled the ripcord, stuffed a fire extinguisher inside his Mae West, and opened the dinghy escape hatch. The engine was still burning fiercely and Jackson looked for a handhold on the wing and saw the leading edge air intake ahead of him. Flinging himself forward he managed to grip the intake and hold on. He aimed the extinguisher into the engine cowling and the flames began to die down.
Suddenly he heard the sound of cannon fire and felt sharp pains in his legs and back - the FW190 had returned. The shock loosened his grip on the extinguisher which fell away and the fire again blazed up and swept over Jackson as he lay there. He lost his grip and the slipstream flung him backwards. He was pulled to a halt just behind the rear turret, being dragged and twisted behind the falling aircraft, held by the cords of the parachute. The cords, already smouldering from the burning engine, were being let out hurriedly by the navigator and bomb-aimer inside the fuselage before they could bail out.
Once Jackson was free of the aircraft he started grabbing at the lines with his bare hands to extinguish the smouldering cords. The main canopy was slashed and torn, burn- holes riddled the silk, as he continued his rapid descent. He hit the ground fairly hard, some bushes partially breaking his fall but an ankle seemed to be broken, his right eye was closed through burns and his hands were useless. At daybreak he crawled to a village nearby and knocked on the door of a house. A man opened the door and bawled at him in German, then two girls came out pushing the man aside. They took him inside and bathed his wounds; they were nurses from the local hospital. The rest of the crew had been rounded up. The pilot and rear gunner had been killed but the others were all right and they were all taken to a police station.
After 10 months in hospital Jackson made a good recovery, though his hands required further treatment, and he was then taken to PoW camp from which was eventually freed by the Americans in 1945.
At the end of the war, when the surviving crew members were repatriated, the full story of Jackson's remarkable bravery was disclosed. He was awarded the Victoria Cross on 26 October 1945 and went to Buckingham Palace the following month to receive his cross, alongside another VC, the celebrated Group Captain Leonard Cheshire.
As a footnote to this story, Channel 4 ran a series (last year I think) about RAF VCs in WW2, it came out that when Norman Jackson was informed he had been recommended for the VC his first reaction was "Why"?
A different breed.
The Kid Frankie
New member
- Sep 5, 2012
- 2,082
Jack The Ripper
The Zodiac Killer
The Zodiac Killer
Trufflehound
Re-enfranchised
Certainly made beautful music, but I'm not sure I'd call throwing yourself under a train 'inspirational'.
The Sound were criminally overlooked in the UK (something that apparently bothered Borland no end, and only exasperated his mental problems), but massive in the Netherlands. When I sold my vinyl collection over here some years back, my Sound albums on the original UK labels earned me nearly as much as the other 1,000 albums combined.
deletebeepbeepbeep
Well-known member
- May 12, 2009
- 21,802
El Che, the most complete man of our times, even if you dont agree with his politics.
Albumen
Don't wait for me!
Pankhurst and Florence Nightingale. Yup, women.
Pankhurst attacked society for it's inequality (and won), Nightingale was a groundbreaking statistician (and nurse).
Pankhurst attacked society for it's inequality (and won), Nightingale was a groundbreaking statistician (and nurse).
Tyrone Biggums
Well-known member
What's a complete man?
Thunder Bolt
Silly old bat
He was a Roman Catholic Franciscan friar. An astounding man.
100% agree. he's one of my all time heroes along side Douglas Bader, Winston Churchill and George Mallory