1936 to 1941.
He was part of the British Expeditionary
Force in May 1940 and was wounded at Dunkirk
in heavy fighting. He transferred to the RAF
in June 1941 after training in Canada and
was based at 101 Squadron. Jack enrolled
in the RAF under the spelling Jack Laurens,
whereas he fought in the Guards as Lourens.
The family name has veered from spelling the
original German name (Lorenz, Lohrentz and
Laurentz in 1680, but not used since about
1700) in various ways; mostly the standard
Afrikaans Lourens, but sometimes Laurens.
Jack met and
married Margaret Johnson from Ferryhill,
County Durham. They had a son named Jack.
L to R, Sgt
Ted Royston, Sgt Davies, P/O Jack Laurens &
Sgt Cass Waight (picture courtesy of Mr.
Bill Churchley)
On 25 January
Flight Sergeant Laurens was awarded the
Distinguished Flying Medal.
The citation
in the London Gazette reads: "Flight
Sergeant Laurens is a South African who has
shown conspicuous courage and determination
on all the operational sorties he has
carried out. On the night of 29th December,
1943, in spite of the complete failure of
all his navigational aids very early on the
way to Berlin, he continued with the sortie
and successfully attacked the target. This
was the second occasion on which this N.C.O.
has carried on when some of his equipment
has been unserviceable. On the night of 2nd
December, 1943, also when attacking Berlin,
he was coned by searchlights and very
severely damaged by flak, when on the run-up
to bomb. His aircraft was thrown out of
control but with magnificent skill, he
remained on an even keel and with splendid
determination went on and released his bombs
in the target area. Flight Sergeant Laurens
has completed 11 sorties, 7 of which have
been against the German capital. He is
completely fearless, while his captaincy and
leadership are of a very high order which
inspires his crew with confidence and sets a
fine example to the squadron. It is
recommended that this N.C.O.'s courage,
determination and magnificent devotion to
duty be recognized by an immediate award of
the D.F.M"
Flight Sergeant Laurens was posthumely
promoted to Pilot Officer per 6 February
1944.
The Laurens
crew on their way to K-King.(picture
courtesy of Mr. Bill Churchley).
Only two weeks
later, on 20 February 1944, P/O Laurens flew
his last mission to Leipzig. This was his
20th mission sortie. His crew was known as
the United Nations crew, as they came from
South Africa, Canada, British Honduras,
Wales, Yorkshire, and the rest of England.
Jack,
according to the five survivors, stayed at
the controls of the Lancaster while it was
in its death plunge to give the others time
to get out. Three were too late, and died.
Four of the five survivors fell into helpful
Dutch hands and evaded capture for a
considerable time. Royston was taken POW the
day after the crash.
The League Of
Nations: WO LAURENS (Pilot). Sgt Davies
(Spec Op). Sgt Cass Waight (W/Op). Flt Sgt
Les Burton (Nav). Sgt Wag Kibble (Flt Eng).
Sgt Don Bolt (MUG). Sgt Ted Royston (Rear
Gun). Sgt Chris Aitkin (Bomb-Aimer) (picture
courtesy of Mr. Bill Churchley).
Of his crew
on that last flight, the Navigator Sgt
(later F/O) Leslie 'crash' Burton, Flight
Engineer Sgt William Alexander George
Kibble, Rear Gunner Sgt Albert Edward
Royston, Special Sgt Arthur (Jim) Davies,
bomb Aimer Sgt Ronald Aitken, survived. Mid
Upper Turret Gunner William Frederick Donald
Bolt, Wireless Operator Cass Henry Waight
and Pilot Jack Laurens had insufficient time
to leave the burning plane with parachutes
and died. P/O Laurens Lancaster crashed near
Tolbert in Groningen.
As a boy of
11 year old, Johannes Van der Velde
remembers the Lancaster DV 267 'K for King'
coming down early in the morning of 20
February 1944. His father found the two
bodies - Jack still at the controls, and Sgt
Don Bolt (Mid Up Gunner) in a field.
Both are buried in the
Protestant cemetery in Tolbert.
P/O Laurens was 26.
(picture by
Wim Bastiaanse)