Jack Mantle was born in London on 12th April 1917. After his mother died when he was two years old his father remarried and moved to Southampton.
The family lived at 2 Malvern Road off Winchester Road. He attended Taunton’s School and joined the Royal Navy in 1934. Jack trained as a gunner and served on convoy protection duty. In 1940 Jack joined HMS Foylebank an armed merchant ship converted into merchant cruiser to defend the convoys.
On 4th July 1940, a convoy assembled at Portland came under attack. HMS Foylebank was defending the convoy with 23 year old Leading Seaman Jack Mantle on board.
Mantle was one of the few naval gunners to have previously shot down an enemy aircraft and he was positioned at the starboard pom-pom gun. Despite several serious injuries and a shattered leg he continued to fire at the enemy aircraft after his ship was struck. Jack lost his life in the action and HMS Foylebank was sunk.
For his bravery Jack was awarded the Victoria Cross which was presented to his parents by the King at Buckingham Palace in 1941, the only VC awarded for an act of valour on mainland Britain. Only about 1,400 have ever been awarded.
Jack’s Corner play area at the Sports Centre in Southampton is an official war memorial in his honour.
The Victoria Cross is the highest and most prestigious award of the honours system and was introduced on 1st January, 1856 during the Crimean War by Queen Victoria.
The medals are still cast from bronze taken from Chinese cannon captured from the Russians at Sevastopol in the Crimea in 1855.
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