BATTLE of Britain veteran and retired Jesuit Norman Jackson-Smith died on February 3, aged 96.

Brother Norman, as he was known in the priesthood, was born in Liverpool and at first he was employed as a steward on ocean liners, travelling to the US and South Africa.

However he quickly tired of this and began working as a mechanic, fixing Tiger Moth aircraft at the airport, and accepting flying lessons as part-payment.

After receiving his pilot’s licence he joined the RAF, flying Hurricanes at first, then the older Blenheim fighters with No. 235 (Fighter) Squadron, during its transition into a Coastal Command in 1940.

During the Second World War he took part in the Battle of Britain, and dispatching his first enemy aircraft – a Heinkel He III – over the North Sea.

He and his crew provided air cover during the evacuation of Dunkirk, and the evacuation of Princess Wilhelmina of the Netherlands to the UK in 1939.

He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions with the squadron.

After the war Brother Norman spent some time living in Ireland with other flight officers, considering his future, and he travelled to Inverness where he investigated joining the Roman Catholic Society of Jesus.

At that time he decided against the move, and rejoined the RAF flying helicopters on supply missions in the Far East during the Malayan Emergency.

He left the service again in the late 1950s, and this time, seeking solace after many years of conflict, he joined the Jesuit order, spending many years in France.

He returned to the UK in the 1980s, serving the church in Liverpool, but after a fall a few years ago he moved to the Corpus Christi Jesuit Community Care Home in Boscombe.

Many of his military exploits were chronicled by RAF historian Andy Bird in the book Coastal Dawn.

In 2012, Mr Jackson-Smith travelled to IWM Duxford museum where, with his DFC proudly pinned to his chest, he signed a copy of the book.