Barbara Jane Harrison
| Jane Harrison, GC | |
|---|---|
Barbara Jane Harrison, GC
|
|
| Born |
Barbara Jane Harrison 24 May 1945 Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire, England |
| Died | 8 April 1968 (aged 22) London Heathrow Airport |
| Cause of death | Fire |
| Resting place | Fulford Cemetery, York |
| Nationality | English |
| Other names | Jane Harrison |
| Occupation | Air stewardess |
| Employer | British Overseas Airways Corporation |
| Known for | BOAC Flight 712 |
| Parent(s) | Alan Harrison, Lena Harrison (neé Adlard) |
| Awards | George Cross (posthumously) |
Barbara Jane Harrison GC (24 May 1945 – 8 April 1968), typically known as Jane Harrison, was a British air stewardess. She is one of four women to have been awarded the George Cross for heroism, and is the only woman to be awarded the medal for gallantry in peacetime (the other three female George Cross recipients served with the Special Operations Executive in occupied France during the Second World War).
Harrison was born on 24 May 1945 at the family home in Kingsdale Crescent, Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire to Lena and Alan Harrison. She was their second child, another daughter, Susan Elizabeth, having been born in 1941. Harrison attended Greystones School, Bradford. The family later moved to Scarborough, where Harrison attended Newby County Primary School. During the summer of 1955, Harrison's mother became seriously ill and the girls were sent to stay with an aunt for the holidays, during which time Harrison's mother died. Harrison passed her 11-plus and attended Scarborough Girls' High School. In 1961, her father moved to Doncaster. Harrison stayed on at Scarborough to complete her O levels before joining her father in the summer of 1961. She then attended Doncaster High School until Easter, 1962.
After leaving school, Harrison worked at Martins Bank from 1962 until 1964, when she decided that she wanted a change of career. She took a job as a nanny for a Swiss farmer in the Canton of Neuchâtel in order to improve her French. Harrison later took another job as a nanny in San Francisco. It was while working in San Francisco that she applied for a job as an air stewardess with British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC). She passed the interview and joined BOAC in May 1966, just after her twenty-first birthday. After completing her training, Harrison was assigned to work onboard BOAC's Boeing 707 fleet. Harrison moved to Emperor's Gate, Kensington, London, where she shared a flat with other BOAC stewardesses. She purchased a Ford Anglia car, which she used to drive to Heathrow for work. Harrison also joined Universal Aunts, which provided staff to do any number of odd jobs. One assignment was babysitting Jason Connery. While she enjoyed her job, long-haul flights with several stopovers were exhausting for cabin crew, and she had mentioned to a friend that as a reason why she might give up work for BOAC.
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