Sqdn Leader Jake McLoughlin BEM, MBE

"Squadron Leader Jake McLoughlin, who has died aged 83, was one of the RAF’s most experienced and fearless parachutists whose courage and competence led to pioneering work in various parachuting roles. He also carried out tests of an ejection seat for combat aircraft.
On one occasion, flying as a dispatcher in a Fairchild C119 transport aircraft he saw that a soldier’s static-line had become entangled with the man’s battle-equipment as he leapt out. This would certainly have been fatal had McLoughlin, in a lightning reaction, not seized him in the split second after his jump.
With prodigious strength, McLoughlin held the man in the slipstream of the aircraft with one hand while clinging to the inside of the fuselage, until others in the aircraft were able to haul them both back inside.
Not long afterwards, McLoughlin volunteered for the first two live ejections in flight of a new ejection seat designed for the very small cockpit of the Folland Gnat ultra-light fighter, which could not be fitted with the conventional Martin Baker seat.
For these acts of great courage, he was awarded the British Empire Medal.
James Edward McLoughlin, known throughout his life as Jake, was born on January 26 1931 to an Irish farming family in County Leix, Eire. He was educated at the Maryborough County Technical School.
He left home when he was 17 and travelled to England where he reported to an Army recruiting office in Liverpool. Finding it closed, he went next door to the RAF office where he enlisted as an electrician.
Wanting a more active life, he became a physical training instructor (PTI) and soon volunteered to be a parachute jumping instructor — an elite body of PTIs who conduct all parachute training for the armed forces. He took up free-fall parachuting as a hobby and was one of the original RAF “Big Six” free-fall parachute team, the precursor to the RAF’s famous “Falcons” Parachute Display Team.
As a Falcon he represented Great Britain in the World Parachute-jumping Championships in Czechoslovakia, Ireland and the USA. He also set a number of world records for free-fall parachuting, and made 1,213 parachute jumps from 39 types of aircraft.
After service in the Far East, where he was an instructor at the RAF Jungle Survival School, he was commissioned into the RAF Regiment in 1967. He served in Cyprus with a Light Anti-Aircraft (LAA) Squadron before returning to the RAF Regiment depot at Catterick.
McLoughlin received rapid promotion, which was rare in the regiment, especially for a former NCO. He was given command of No 58 LAA Squadron equipped with Bofors 40mm Anti-Aircraft Units. Within weeks of taking command in April 1976, No 58 was deployed to Belize.
The small country had been under constant threat of invasion by Guatemala since 1970 and depended for its survival upon British forces based there. McLoughlin’s squadron was positioned to defend the only airfield with its single runway, which was crucial for the support of the garrison and therefore a key target for any possible offensive by Guatemala.
The political situation deteriorated significantly in the spring of 1977 and reinforcements, including a force of RAF Harrier ground attack aircraft, were deployed to bolster the British military capability and to act as a deterrent.
Three RAF Regiment squadrons maintained a three-monthly rotation from the UK in the inhospitable terrain. During McLoughlin’s time in command of No 58, the squadron made nine deployments to Belize and one to Northern Ireland.
Successive commanders in Belize praised his leadership and his unit’s excellent discipline and morale. For his services in Belize he was appointed MBE."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11221111/Squadron-Leader-Jake-McLoughlin-obituary.html