Jackie Mann, (11 June 1914 – 12 November 1995) was a

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

fighter pilot in the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...

, who in later life was kidnapped by

Islamists Islamism (also often called political Islam or Islamic fundamentalism) is a political ideology which posits that modern states and regions should be reconstituted in constitutional, economic and judicial terms, in accordance with what is c ...

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

in May 1989 and held hostage for more than two years.

RAF career

Born in Northampton on 11 June 1914, Mann joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve in

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...

in 1938. As a sergeant pilot (Service No. 127025), he was posted in July 1940 to No. 64 Squadron RAF, flying

Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Grif ...

s. He was shot down by Royal Navy anti-aircraft fire on 16 August. He was then posted to No. 92 Squadron in late August, and was wounded in action on 14 September. He was subsequently posted to No. 91 Squadron, but on 4 April 1941 was again shot down and wounded, being badly burned. His opponent was either ''Oberst'' Adolf Galland or ''Leut.'' Robert Menge of JG 26. He underwent plastic surgery at

Queen Victoria Hospital The Queen Victoria Hospital (QVH), located in East Grinstead, West Sussex, England is the specialist reconstructive surgery centre for the south east of England, and also provides services at clinics across the region. It has become world-fam ...

, East Grinstead, where he was a founder member of the

Guinea Pig Club The Guinea Pig Club, established in 1941, was a social club and mutual support network for British and allied aircrew injured during World War II. Its membership was made up of patients of Archibald McIndoe in Ward III at Queen Victoria Hospit ...

. He was also awarded a Distinguished Flying Medal. Mann met his wife Dilys Pritchard – known as "Sunnie" – in wartime London, where Sunnie was an ambulance driver and Mann was recovering from his burns. They married at Chiswick Registry Office in 1943. Following his recovery, Mann joined 1 ADF at Hendon, and then served with Ferry Command over the North Atlantic routes. His final fighter score was 5 destroyed, 1 probable, and 3 damaged. He was later promoted to the rank of

Squadron Leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr in the RAF ; SQNLDR in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly sometimes S/L in all services) is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is als ...

Post-war life

After the war Mann served as Chief Pilot with

Middle East Airlines Middle East Airlines – Air Liban S.A.L. ( ar, طيران الشرق الأوسط ـ الخطوط الجوية اللبنانية ''Ṭayyarān al-Sharq al-Awsaṭ – al-Khuṭūṭ al-jawiyyah al-lubnāniyyah''), more commonly known as Middle ...

. He and Sunnie moved first to

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...

and then to

, where they continued to live for over 40 years. After retiring, Mann ran the Pickwick pub; while Sunnie ran a successful

riding school An equestrian facility is created and maintained for the purpose of accommodating, training or competing equids, especially horses. Based on their use, they may be known as a barn, stables, or riding hall and may include commercial operations descr ...

Kidnapping

On 13 May 1989, Mann was kidnapped in

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

by Khalaya al-Kifah al-Musallah or "Armed Struggle Cells", a previously unknown terrorist group linked to the pro-Iranian Shi'ite Muslim militant organisation, Hezbollah. The group demanded the release of Palestinian prisoners it claimed were being held in Britain, accused of killing Palestinian cartoonist

Naji al-Ali Naji Salim Hussain al-Ali ( ar, ناجي سليم العلي '; born c. 1938 – 29 August 1987) was a Palestinian cartoonist, noted for the political criticism of the Arab regimes and Israel in his works. He has been described as the greatest ...

in 1987. (In fact, no-one linked to the murder was being held by UK authorities.) The British embassy had warned three days before Mann was seized that a Shi'a group was preparing to take another Western hostage. The Foreign Office and embassy had renewed warnings to British citizens still living in Beirut to leave immediately following the Salman Rushdie affair in February of that year. In September 1989, it was reported that his wife Sunnie had been told that Mann was dead, by a man who asked to meet her in a Beirut shopping centre.

Release

Mann was eventually released on 24 September 1991, following 865 days in captivity, after negotiations by the British and US governments succeeded in bringing about the release of several Western hostages. He had been held at the same time as other UK and Irish hostages in Lebanon, notably journalist John McCarthy, church envoy

Terry Waite Terence Hardy Waite (born 31 May 1939) is an English humanitarian and author. Waite was the Assistant for Anglican Communion Affairs for the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Runcie, in the 1980s. As an envoy for the Church of England, he ...

and author Brian Keenan. On his release, he was taken firstly to Damascus, Syria, where he was reunited with his wife, and then flown by

VC10 The Vickers VC10 is a mid-sized, narrow-body long-range British jet airliner designed and built by Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft) Ltd and first flown at Brooklands, Surrey, in 1962. The airliner was designed to operate on long-distance route ...

RAF Lyneham Royal Air Force Lyneham otherwise known as RAF Lyneham was a Royal Air Force station located northeast of Chippenham, Wiltshire, and southwest of Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The station was the home of all the Lockheed C-130 Hercules transpor ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

, and spent some time recuperating and debriefing in the Officers' Mess, before returning to normal life. His health had suffered greatly during his captivity, and he never recovered. He had been kept for prolonged periods in solitary confinement, sometimes in chains. He lost over 18 kilograms in weight, and experienced heart and lung problems. He also suffered from a skin problem, requiring medication, resulting from his Second World War burns injuries. After his release, the Manns settled in Nicosia, Cyprus. Jackie was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

in 1992. The couple wrote a book in 1992 entitled ''Yours Till The End: Harrowing Life of a Beirut Hostage''. Sunnie also wrote ''Holding On'' in 1991. Sunnie Mann died in November 1992 from

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, malign ...

. Jackie Mann died in Nicosia on 12 November 1995. He was 81 years old.

References

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