Barbara Jane Harrison

Barbara Jane Harrison, GC (24 May 1945 – 8 April 1968), was a British flight attendant. She is one of four women to have been directly awarded the George Cross for heroism, [Other women have received awards which were later replaced by the GC for actions in peacetime] and the only one of the four not to have served with the Special Operations Executive in occupied France during Second World War. This also makes her the only woman to be directly awarded the medal for gallantry in peacetime.

She was born in Bradford, Yorkshire and worked as a Stewardess with the British Overseas Airways Corporation. Her posthumous award was for the gallantry she showed in helping passengers escape a burning aircraft in London.cite web
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title = Barbara Jane HARRISON, GC (Posthumously)
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publisher = Chameleon HH Publishing Ltd
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url = http://www.gc-database.co.uk/recipients/HarrisonBJ.htm
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accessdate = 2007-11-19 ] On 8 April 1968, soon after it left Heathrow Airport, the number two engine of BOAC Flight 712 she was working on caught fire and fell from the plane's port wing. The aircraft managed to land two and a half minutes later, but fire continued to engulf the wing and spread to the fuselage. Miss Harrison and another flight attendant inflated the escape chute at the aft of the plane but it became entangled and the steward had to climb down to free it for use and was unable to return.

Miss Harrison stayed at her station and helped passengers to escape as fire ravaged the plane, encouraging them to jump and in some cases simply pushing them out to safety. As the fire spread, escape from the rear of the aircraft became impossible and she led the remaining passengers to another exit. She refused to leave the plane to save herself and her body was found near that of a disabled pensioner, seated in one of the last rows. Her award was published in a supplement to the "London Gazette" of 7 August 1968 (dated 8 August 1969). [LondonGazette|issue=44913|supp=yes|startpage=8211|date=7 August 1969|accessdate=2008-05-16] A memorial to her stands in Fulford Cemetery in York.cite web
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title = A Memorial to Honour the Bravest
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publisher = The Friends of the Green Howards
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url = http://www.greenhowards.org.uk/html-files/vc-gc-memorial-fund.htm
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accessdate = 2007-11-19 ]

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