A contributor to WW2 Talk is researching this man: " ... my grandfather was in the RASC during WW1. He joined the London Fire Brigade in 1920 and was the Chief Fire Officer for London during the Blitz. He resigned his post in Jan 1943 under slightly acrimonious circumstances and as far I was aware took an administrative position with the Home Office concerning fire prevention. However one of his medals is the France and Germany Star and 2 of the photos that have turned up show him with other officers in France 1944 in what looks like RAF uniforms. His son also Frank Whitford Jackson was killed aged 20 piloting a Wellington in 1943 but this is the only connection that I know he had with the RAF."
A respondent replied: "Things changed in the summer of 1941 when the British Ministry of Information reorganised and revitalised its American operations. This enabled it to oversee a little-known but remarkably successful propaganda campaign in the US, conceived and executed by an unlikely agency, the London Fire Brigade. On February 1st, 1941 Major F.W. Jackson DSO, Officer Commanding London Fire Services, wrote to the secretary of the War Artists Advisory Committee (WAAC), E.M. O’Rourke Dickey, to inform him that he had recently called for a list of artists serving in his force, which had revealed ‘a large amount of hidden talent of which we were not previously aware’. He stated that he had invited all artists in the service to submit works of art for an exhibition in his headquarters and wondered if the WAAC would assist in judging them. If the standard was sufficiently high then perhaps the works might be sent to the US. Instead of dismissing the idea as fanciful, Dickey arranged for the works to be seen by J.B. Manson, a former curator of the Tate Gallery, after getting agreement from the WAAC chairman, Kenneth Clark, that depending on the quality ‘it would be quite a good thing to send it to America’."
And this August 1941 exhibition catalogue, with an introduction by Jackson is, we believe the result.
At WW2 Talk we also learnt: "During WW1 Major Jackson served with the Army Service Corps. ... He also played a cameo uncredited role as the Fire Chief in Humphrey Jennings docudrama Fires Were Started. 1943. ... - DSO (For distinguished service in the field Gazzette 1 Jan 1918) - Mentioned in Despatches (x 3). - French's Despatch of 30 Nov 1915 - Haig's Despatches of 13 Nov 1916 and 7 Nov 1917."
Lots more information at Beyond the Flames. Born Kent. Died at home in Epsom. Buried in Highgate Cemetery at the London Fire Brigade memorial.
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