Ian Cross (RAF Officer)
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Ian Kingston Pembroke Cross (4 April 1918 – 31 March 1944), was a British
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...
officer and bomber pilot who was taken prisoner during the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. Notable for his part in the 'Great Escape' from
Stalag Luft III Stalag Luft III (; literally "Main Camp, Air, III"; SL III) was a ''Luftwaffe''-run prisoner-of-war (POW) camp during the Second World War, which held captured Western Allied air force personnel. The camp was established in March 1942 near th ...
in March 1944 when he was one of the men recaptured and subsequently murdered by the ''
Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...
''.


Pre-War

Ian Cross was born in Cosham,
Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...
the son of Jeannie and Pembroke Cross a successful chartered surveyor, estate agent and valuer. His older brother Kenneth later became
Air Chief Marshal Air chief marshal (Air Chf Mshl or ACM) is a high-ranking air officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many Commonwealth of Nations, countries that have historical British i ...
Sir Kenneth Cross, AOC-in-C Bomber and Transport Command RAF. Ian Cross was a frail child and had a home tutor due to his early poor health. In 1918 the family moved to Hayling Island and there his health began to improve rapidly. He was educated at Churchers School,
Petersfield Petersfield is a market town and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is north of Portsmouth. The town has its own Petersfield railway station, railway station on the Portsmouth Direct line, the mainline rai ...
until 1936 where he was recognized as a track athlete and
Rugby football Rugby football is the collective name for the team sports of rugby union or rugby league. Rugby football started at Rugby School in Rugby, Warwickshire, England, where the rules were first codified in 1845. Forms of football in which the ball ...
player and as a member of the school Officer Training Corps. Ian Cross left school and followed his older brother Kenneth into the
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...
to train as a pilot.


Early service career

Cross joined the
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...
as an officer cadet on 12 October 1936 receiving his initial flight training at a civil flying school at Hanworth. He was commissioned as an acting
pilot officer Pilot officer (Plt Off or P/O) is a junior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Pilot officer is the lowest ran ...
on 21 December 1936 with service number 39305 joining No. 38 Squadron RAF based at RAF Marham in Norfolk flying Fairey Hendon bombers and being confirmed as
pilot officer Pilot officer (Plt Off or P/O) is a junior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Pilot officer is the lowest ran ...
on 13 October 1937 The squadron began to convert to
Vickers Wellington The Vickers Wellington (nicknamed the Wimpy) is a British twin-engined, long-range medium bomber. It was designed during the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey. Led by Vickers-Armstrongs' chief designer Rex Pierson, a key feature of t ...
heavy bombers in January 1939 and Cross was promoted
flying officer Flying officer (Fg Offr or F/O) is a junior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Flying officer is immediately ...
on 12 May 1939 and was captain of the station
Rugby Football Rugby football is the collective name for the team sports of rugby union or rugby league. Rugby football started at Rugby School in Rugby, Warwickshire, England, where the rules were first codified in 1845. Forms of football in which the ball ...
team.


Wartime service

His first operational sortie (mission) was on 3 December 1939, an anti-shipping strike on German vessels near
Heligoland Heligoland (; , ; Heligolandic Frisian: , , Mooring Frisian: , ) is a small archipelago in the North Sea. The islands were historically possessions of Denmark, then became possessions of the United Kingdom from 1807 to 1890. Since 1890, the ...
. On the night of 20 February 1940 on a search for enemy shipping his bomber
Vickers Wellington The Vickers Wellington (nicknamed the Wimpy) is a British twin-engined, long-range medium bomber. It was designed during the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey. Led by Vickers-Armstrongs' chief designer Rex Pierson, a key feature of t ...
Mark IA (serial number P2526") flown by Flight Lieutenant M Nolan, (Cross being the second pilot) ran out of fuel on their return and the crew had to jump by parachute leaving the aircraft to crash. Soon afterwards Cross was appointed "first pilot" and he went on to complete 34 operations (missions) and finish his tour of operational duty. Posted to No. 11 Operational Training Unit based at RAF Bassingbourn he was unhappy as a flying instructor and pressed for a return to operational flying. He was promoted flight lieutenant on 3 September 1940 Cross was awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross on 13 September 1940 for his bravery during his first tour of operations with No. 38 Squadron RAF In August 1941 Cross succeeded in his aim to return to operational flying and was posted to
No. 103 Squadron RAF No. 103 Squadron was a Royal Air Force bomber squadron during World War I, World War II and the Cold War, switching to helicopters in the late 1950s until it was disbanded for the last time in 1975. History Formation in World War I No. 103 S ...
to fly
Vickers Wellington The Vickers Wellington (nicknamed the Wimpy) is a British twin-engined, long-range medium bomber. It was designed during the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey. Led by Vickers-Armstrongs' chief designer Rex Pierson, a key feature of t ...
bombers. He flew sixteen further missions and became "B" flight commander, promoted temporary
squadron leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr or S/L) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Squadron leader is immediatel ...
on 1 December 1941


Prisoner of war

On 12 February 1942 the
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...
mounted a series of large scale operations to attack the three capital warships of the German fleet which had broken out of harbor at Brest known officially as Operation Fuller but better known as the Channel Dash. Amongst the bombers hunting the warships was a
Vickers Wellington The Vickers Wellington (nicknamed the Wimpy) is a British twin-engined, long-range medium bomber. It was designed during the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey. Led by Vickers-Armstrongs' chief designer Rex Pierson, a key feature of t ...
Mark Ic of
No. 103 Squadron RAF No. 103 Squadron was a Royal Air Force bomber squadron during World War I, World War II and the Cold War, switching to helicopters in the late 1950s until it was disbanded for the last time in 1975. History Formation in World War I No. 103 S ...
flown by
Squadron Leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr or S/L) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Squadron leader is immediatel ...
Ian Cross. Unsuited to daylight operations the RAF were using almost everything they had available to try to sink the warships. Cross took off from RAF Elsham Wolds at 1452 hours on that afternoon. His aircraft was hit by light anti-aircraft fire from German Naval units and he had to "ditch" (crash land at sea) 40 miles off
Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...
where two of his crew of six drowned when they were unable to get to the life boat. Twenty four hours later the four survivors were rescued by German air-sea-rescue. Cross was taken into captivity becoming prisoner of war No. 189 at Oflag XXI-B at
Szubin Szubin () is a town in Nakło County, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland, located southwest of Bydgoszcz. It has a population of around 9,333 (as of 2010). It is located on the Gąsawka River in the ethnocultural region of Pałuki. A small ...
in German-occupied Poland where he became acquainted with seasoned escapers such as
Roger Bushell Squadron Leader Roger Joyce Bushell (30 August 1910 – 29 March 1944) was a South Africa, South African aviator in the United Kingdom, British Royal Air Force. He masterminded the famous Stalag Luft III#The great escape, "Great Escape" from ...
, Cyril Swain and
Bill Ash William Franklin Ash MBE (30 November 1917 – 26 April 2014) was an American-born British writer, broadcaster and Marxist, who served as a fighter pilot with the Royal Canadian Air Force in World War II. He was shot down, made a prisoner of w ...
and became an accomplished tunneller. He was one of the "troublesome" prisoners moved by the Germans to the reputedly escape-proof
Stalag Luft III Stalag Luft III (; literally "Main Camp, Air, III"; SL III) was a ''Luftwaffe''-run prisoner-of-war (POW) camp during the Second World War, which held captured Western Allied air force personnel. The camp was established in March 1942 near th ...
where he continued his activities. In one attempt he jumped aboard a German truck leaving the compound with a load of pine trunks and branches which had been cut by Russian forced labourers but was caught before the truck was outside of the wire fences.


'Great Escape'

For the Great Escape operation Cross was one of the primary tunnellers and also oversaw and controlled the "penguin" team for the dispersal of the many tons of sandy earth excavated during the tunneling operations - much of it hidden beneath the floor of the camp theatre via a trap door constructed for the purpose beneath seat No. 13 working with Jimmy James. He was one of the 76 men who escaped the prison camp on the night of 24–25 March 1944, in the escape now famous as " the Great Escape". When the Germans discovered the escape they began extensive well planned manhunts. Ian Cross was one of the prisoners recaptured relatively quickly by local patrols and were initially held locally. Nineteen recaptured officers were loaded into a lorry the following day and moved to
Görlitz Görlitz (; ; ; ; ; Lusatian dialects, East Lusatian: , , ) is a town in the Germany, German state of Saxony. It is on the river Lusatian Neisse and is the largest town in Upper Lusatia, the second-largest town in the region of Lusatia after ...
prison under
Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...
control. Here the numbers of recaptured officers grew until thirty-five were held there. The prisoners were threatened with death and interrogated harshly but not physically. On 30 March 1944 two of the survivors saw three large sedans with ten
Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...
agents collect six officers, Ian Cross, Mike Casey, George Wiley, Al Hake, Tom Leigh and
John Pohe Porokoru Patapu Pohe (10 December 1914 – 31 March 1944), commonly known as John Pohe, was a New Zealand Māori Royal New Zealand Air Force officer and bomber pilot who was taken prisoner during the Second World War. Notable for his part in the ...
. they were not seen again, their cremation urn labels stated that they died on 31 March 1944 and had been cremated at Görlitz. He was one of the 50 escapers executed and murdered by the ''Gestapo''. Originally cremated and buried at
Żagań Żagań (French language, French and , ) is a town in western Poland, on the Bóbr river, with 25,731 inhabitants (2019), capital of Żagań County in the Lubusz Voivodeship, located in the historic region of Lower Silesia. Founded in the 12th ce ...
, he is now buried in part of the Poznań Old Garrison Cemetery. where his parents chose the inscription "Faithful unto death, To his God and Country" for his headstone. Post-war investigation found that a
Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...
agent named Lux led the squad who shot the group of six recaptured airmen beside the autobahn near Halbau on the instructions of a senior officer named Scharpwinkel. He was amongst the 47 murdered officers named in the British and Commonwealth press when the story became public knowledge on or about 19–20 May 1944 The Glasgow Herald of 19 May 1944 published an early list naming several officers including Cross


Awards

Distinguished Flying Cross awarded on 13 September 1940 for his bravery with No. 38 Squadron RAF
Mention in Despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...
His conspicuous bravery as a prisoner and escaper was recognized by a
Mention in Despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...
as none of the other relevant decorations then available could be awarded posthumously. It was published in a supplement to the ''London Gazette'' on 8 June 1944.


Other victims

:''See
Stalag Luft III murders The Stalag Luft III murders were war crimes perpetrated by members of the Gestapo following the " Great Escape" of Allied prisoners of war from the German Air Force prison camp known as Stalag Luft III on March 25, 1944. Of the 76 successful escape ...
'' The Gestapo executed a group of 50 of the recaptured prisoners representing almost all of the nationalities involved in the escape. Post-war investigations saw a number of those guilty of the murders tracked down, arrested and tried for their crimes.Andrews (1976), p.188 and 199


References

;Notes ;Bibliography * * * * * * * * * * *


External links


''Project Lessons from the Great Escape (Stalag Luft III),''
by Mark Kozak-Holland. The prisoners formally structured their work as a project. Thi
''book''
analyses their efforts using modern project management methods. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cross, Ian Kingston Pembroke Royal Air Force squadron leaders British World War II pilots British World War II bomber pilots World War II prisoners of war held by Germany 1918 births 1944 deaths Royal Air Force personnel killed in World War II Participants in the Great Escape from Stalag Luft III British escapees Extrajudicial killings in World War II British World War II prisoners of war Graduates of the Royal Air Force College Cranwell Military personnel from Hampshire