east by using infrastructure in Vichy
French-controlled Syria. Indeed, during the
uprising in Iraq, Luftwaffe aircraft, wearing
Iraqi markings, had staged through Syria.
The invasion of Syria began on 8 June,
and it was over a little more than a month
later. During that time, 3 Squadron, de-
spite pranging a considerable number of
their new aircraft, gave a good account of
itself. John Jackson, as one of the senior pi-
lots (and in his early thirties), was at the
forefront of this success. Like some of the
men he flew with, he had seen combat in
the desert while flying Gloster Gladiators
and Hawker Hurricanes (see Flightpath
Vol 28, No 3, pp24-29). The majority of the
squadron’s work over Syria was ground
strafing and escorting small bomber for-
mations. Several Vichy aircraft were en-
countered in the air, bombers and fighters
alike, and several claims were made, in-
cludingtwobyJacksonforaPotez63and
Dewoitine D.520 destroyed.
The success of the invasion was evident as
3 Squadron moved to new airfields in the
wake of the advancing ground forces. It
stayed on after the cessation of hostilities,
waving the flag where needed with forma-
tion flights over potential trouble spots, but
returned to the desert in September for
what would be its best remembered period
of operations. While John returned to Egypt,
he was sent home in October and, after some
leave, did a stint of instructing at Point
Cook.BytheendofMarchhewasinPort
Moresbyattheheadof75SquadronRAAF
andtwoweekslaterhewastrekkingthrough
thejungleafterbeingshotdown.Having
made it back, his luck ran out on 28 April.
An avid photographer, as he was diarist
and letter writer, the images John took
whileinNorthAfrica,PalestineandSyria
areaparticularlyvaluablerecordof3
Squadron before it became a household
name. Photographs from Australia’s involve-
ment in the Syrian campaign aren’t exactly
easy to come by. The Jackson family recent-
ly donated the ‘Old John Jackson’ collection
to the Australian War Memorial and these,
as expected from this world-class institu-
tion, were gratefully and excitedly received.
Importantly, they were also scanned and
made available via the AWM’s website for
anyone to discover. The legacy of Squadron
Leader John Jackson DFC lives on.
26 | FLIGHTPATH
LEFT: The Breda Ba.88 was a complete
failure as a military aircraft. Attractive
and streamlined, its performance
suffered greatly once military
equipment was fitted. The type served
with 7º Gruppo in North Africa, but
was found to be dangerously
underpowered. Most had been
stripped of useful equipment, as this
example appears to be, by the middle
of June 1940. They were then used as
airfield decoys and, given the damage
evident on this aircraft, may have
been more successful in that role! It is
not known on which airfield John
found this aircraft. Although Italian
aircraft were noted in Syria, it is likely
this photo was taken somewhere in
North Africa. [AWM image P12424.065]ABOVE: This Dewoitine D.520 was shot down by an RAF squadron, probably flying Hurricanes. It was in the
same area as the two ‘Glenn Martin’ wrecks the Australian pilots examined on 15 July 1941. A contemporary of
the early modern fighters of the war, the Dewoitine was not an easy opponent. Indeed, the only Tomahawk
lost during the Syrian campaign, flown by Frank Fischer, was shot down by a D.520 which, in turn, was set upon
by Jackson and ‘Bobby’ Gibbes. Rather than take a half share each for downing the French fighter, the pair
tossed a coin for it. Gibbes won and claimed his first aerial kill. [AWM image P12424.076]RIGHT: Members of 3 Squadron RAAF
examine an Italian Fiat CR.42. Note the
fabric panels on the fuselage side and
the rudder appear to have been
souvenired. It would certainly be
interesting to know where such items
ended up! John Jackson is at the front of
the aircraft, obscured by the wing, but
indicated by a helpful arrow and a ‘J’.
While Italian aircraft transited through
Syria on their way to and from Iraq, none
remained at the time of the invasion. It is
therefore likely that this photo was
taken in North Africa as the CR.42 was a
regular opponent during the Australian
squadron’s first stint in the desert.
[AWM image P12424.018]