John Cruickshank, who has died aged 105, was the last surviving combatant to have won the Victoria Cross during the second world war, and the last living Scottish recipient of what is one of the most distinguished awards for gallantry in the world.
At the start of the war Cruickshank was an apprenticed clerk with the Commercial Bank of Scotland. As a member of the Territorial Army he initially served with the Royal Artillery, transferring into the RAF as a trainee pilot in June 1941. By July 1944 he was with 210 Squadron in Shetland, flying anti-submarine patrols in Catalina flying boats.
