by
Susan Comrie on 09 September 2011 · via
sourceMy gran, Jean Lyster (nee Matthews), was married to Jack Carlisle. I managed to get a copy of Jack's medical record - he went to King Edward School in JHB and worked as a company secretary at the Pretoria News before he signed up to the SAAF. He did most of his training in Rhodesia and shipped out from Durban on 20 January 1942. He and my gran had only been married for 3 weeks when he shipped out - she drove down to Durban to se him off but arrived in Durban to see his ship sailing out of the harbour. Jack was initially posted to RAF Helwan in Egypt, but later joined 21 Squadron. His plane was shot down on 14 April 1943 - he refused to bail out before the rest of his crew and by the time he bailed out his parachute didn't open. He was buried in the Sfax Cemetry just south of Tunis. I haven't been able to find a photo of Jack - if anyone has one I'd love to get a copy to show to my gran - she's 94-years-old and I don't think she has seen a photo of him for more than 50 years.