Lieutenant John Denison Jackson was born 8 July 1922, in Toronto, Ontario son of Marjorie Kirkpatrick and Gilbert Jackson.

He attended Brown School and Upper Canada College Preparatory before his family moved to England in 1935 where he enrolled at Haileybury College, England. Jackson spent one term at Trinity College School in 1939, and at the end of his first term, it was found possible for him to return to England. During that brief period, however, he showed that he possessed a keen, alert mind and a very attractive personality. He was fond of sports, playing soccer well.

After completing his course at Haileybury he entered Trinity College at the University of Toronto.

He enlisted 27 January 1942 in The Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada and went overseas in December 1943 as a Lieutenant. Posted to his regiment early in 1944, Jackson took part in the invasion of the Continent on D-Day.

He was killed in action in Normandy on 9 July 1944  aged 22 and is buried in Beny-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery, Grave Reference: X. H. 14.