Bound by sacrifice: England honors American pilot 70 years later

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Samantha Mathison
  • 301st Fighter Wing Public Affairs
NAVAL AIR STATION FORT WORTH JOINT RESERVE BASE, Texas --  A small group of people gathered in a restaurant on a warm midsummer day in Dallas to honor a man's service and sacrifice.

Capt. John Perrin, a United States Army Air Forces pilot, gave his life while guiding his failing aircraft away from the populated areas of Stafford and Creswell, England, July 4, 1944. Seventy years later, the grateful people of Creswell Parish awarded Perrin with the honorary "Scroll of Freedom," bestowed for outstanding service to their community.

On behalf of the Creswell Parish, Her Britannic Majesty's Consul-General Andrew Millar invited Perrin's surviving family members and local Air Force representatives to a formal luncheon in Dallas to honor Perrin. There Millar spoke of Perrin's actions and presented the scroll to his family.

"It is through personal acts of sacrifice and valor that we truly define the special relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States. We often speak of the big strategic picture within the relationship, but sometimes need to remember the people who define it. The fact the village of Creswell maintains the memory of Capt. Perrin's sacrifice, and teaches schoolchildren about him in the same building his bravery saved, speaks volumes of the individual and personal ties which bind our nations together," Millar said in his distinctive Scottish accent.

Stanley Jones, a villager who was only seven years old in 1944, witnessed and later documented the last moments of Perrin's life in "The First and Last Mustang Flight of a Heroic WWII American Pilot."

Jones described Perrin as a P-47 Thunderbolt pilot with combat experience, having shot down seven German aircraft prior to being assigned to the 312th Ferrying Squadron in England. On a warm July 4, 1944, Perrin was assigned to fly a brand new American P-51 Mustang from Warton, Lancashire to Steeple Morden, Cambridgeshire.

Jones explained that after Perrin took off fuel began to leak from the front of the plane and filled the cockpit with volatile fuel vapor. He was above the altitude where ejection was possible, but he stayed with his aircraft to avoid the collateral damage a crash could cause.

"When southeast of the town center, Captain Perrin banked the Mustang north-northwest, toward what he thought to be flatter terrain - an area of open farmland in 1944," said Jones.

Jones recalled seeing the ailing aircraft fly towards what would become the crash site.

"Suddenly and incredibly there it was, out of nowhere, a silver-colored fighter plane trailing smoke. My brother John and I scanned the high bright clouds of the late summer afternoon looking for the German plane that might have shot it down, for this was wartime England.

"It was after having cleared the housing estate at an altitude of 600 feet, on final approach to a crash-landing, that disaster struck. The volatile mixture within the cockpit ignited. The resulting explosion blew the Plexiglas out of the canopy, leaving behind the metal frame.

"Either because Captain Perrin had been killed by this blast or was rendered unconscious, the plane turned over in a steep dive, its engine screaming full throttle, left wing pointing toward the ground."

According to witnesses, the blazing plane disappeared behind treetops and crashed into a wheat field.

Perrin's commitment protected the people of Creswell Parish from tragedy. He could have saved himself, but he made the fateful decision to pilot his disabled plane away from the innocent families below him.

The people of Creswell Parish never forgot Perrin's actions on that American Independence Day in 1944, and honored him by memorializing his service.

A stone memorial to commemorate Perrin's sacrifice was erected near the crash site July 4, 2007. Then on July 4, 2014, the people of Creswell Parish posthumously awarded Perrin the honorary "Scroll of Freedom," as well as a commemorative medallion and two metal pins in the shape of knots which represent the communities of Stafford and Creswell.

The scroll, medallion, and pins were new reminders of Perrin's life. They portrayed how his service had influenced the lives of his family, the people of Creswell Parish, and even members of the U.S. Air Force.

Col. Bruce Fernald, 301st Fighter Wing director of staff, was honored to attend the commemorative event.

"Captain Perrin's choice to pilot his P-51 away from populated areas reflects our core value of service before self. He gave his life to save British citizens. His selfless action helped strengthen the U.S. relationship with England, evidenced by the fact that people of both countries still come together to talk about him 70 years after his death. That kind of service can't be asked for. It can only be given," said Fernald.

Perrin's service has special meaning for his family. Helaine Blizzard, Perrin's second cousin, knew of him as a child but didn't understand the importance of his actions until she was older.

"It has made me more aware of the courage and sacrifices of our military today. As a child I was too young to understand the Vietnam War, and WWII was something we studied in History class. So to have a relative who gave his life to save others in the war has truly affected how I view the commitment of our military," said Blizzard.

Descendants remember Perrin every year on the Fourth of July, and this year his memory reached across entire oceans to touch the hearts of family and Air Force members in Texas.

It may have been a long way to go, but Perrin's example proved that service and sacrifice knows no bounds.