Kenneth Cross
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Air Chief Marshal Sir Kenneth Brian Boyd Cross, (4 October 1911 – 18 June 2003) was a senior
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
commander. He was commonly known as Bing.


RAF career

The eldest son of Pembroke Henry Cokayne Cross (1884–1964) a chartered surveyor, and Jeanie Boyd (1888–1944), he was educated at Hilsea College in
Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...
, Havant High School, and
Kingswood School (''In The Right Way Quickly'') , established = , closed = , type = Independent , religious_affiliation = Methodist , president = , head_label = Headmaste ...
. Cross joined the Royal Air Force in April 1930."Air Chief Marshal Sir Kenneth Cross—Pilot who landed Hurricanes on an aircraft carrier and was an influential figure in the RAF"
''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
'', 23 June 2003. Retrieved on 2 March 2010.
He first served with No. 25 Squadron in 1931, before a spell as instructor with 5 FTS at Sealand. In 1934 he was part of the
Cambridge University Air Squadron Cambridge University Air Squadron, abbreviated CUAS, formed in 1925, is the training unit of the Royal Air Force at the University of Cambridge and forms part of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. It is the oldest of 15 University Air Squadr ...
. In December 1938 Squadron Leader Cross was appointed Auxiliary Liaison Officer at HQ, No 12 Group, Fighter Command. Cross served in the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
and in October 1939 was appointed
Officer Commanding The officer commanding (OC), also known as the officer in command or officer in charge (OiC), is the commander of a sub-unit or minor unit (smaller than battalion size), principally used in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. In other countries, t ...
No. 46 Squadron, conducting flying missions over Norway.Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Chief Marshal Sir Kenneth Cross
/ref> For his service in Norway he was awarded the Norwegian
War Cross with sword The War Cross with Sword (Norwegian Bokmål: ''Krigskorset med sverd, '' Norwegian Nynorsk: ''Krigskrossen med sverd'') is the highest ranking Norwegian gallantry decoration. It is awarded for extraordinary brave actions or extraordinary leadersh ...
. Ordered to return to the United Kingdom in June 1940, his pilots achieved the seemingly impossible task of landing all their Hurricanes on the aircraft carrier HMS ''Glorious'' without
arresting gear An arresting gear, or arrestor gear, is a mechanical system used to rapidly decelerate an aircraft as it lands. Arresting gear on aircraft carriers is an essential component of naval aviation, and it is most commonly used on CATOBAR and STOB ...
, along with ten
Gloster Gladiator The Gloster Gladiator is a British biplane fighter. It was used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) (as the Sea Gladiator variant) and was exported to a number of other air forces during the late 1930s. Developed private ...
s of No. 263 Squadron Their success was short-lived because on 8 June 1940 HMS ''Glorious'' and her two escort ships were attacked and sunk by the German battleship Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. Cross was one of only three officers and 41 other ranks rescued out of the three ships' companies. He had spent nearly three days and nights on a float in freezing temperatures before being rescued by a Norwegian fishing boat. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. After recovering from frostbitten feet he was appointed Officer Commanding No. 252 Wing in the
Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...
and then took over No. 258 Wing before reverting to command of No. 252 Wing. In January 1943 he was made Air Officer Commanding No. 212 Group and in February 1943 he took over No. 242 Group receiving promotion to temporary group captain in July 1943. He became Air Commodore, Training at Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Air Force in March 1944 and Director of Overseas Operations (Tactical) in June 1944. After the war he went to the
Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State ...
as Director of Weapons and then as Director of Operations (Air Defence). He went on to be Air Officer Commanding No. 3 Group in 1956, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief
Bomber Command Bomber Command is an organisational military unit, generally subordinate to the air force of a country. The best known were in Britain and the United States. A Bomber Command is generally used for strategic bombing (although at times, e.g. during t ...
in 1959 and, following his promotion to air marshal in 1961, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief
Transport Command RAF Transport Command was a Royal Air Force command that controlled all transport aircraft of the RAF. It was established on 25 March 1943 by the renaming of the RAF Ferry Command, and was subsequently renamed RAF Air Support Command in 1967. ...
in 1963. He retired in 1967.


Family

In 1945 he married Brenda Megan Powell, a former
Women's Auxiliary Air Force The Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF), whose members were referred to as WAAFs (), was the female auxiliary of the Royal Air Force during World War II. Established in 1939, WAAF numbers exceeded 180,000 at its peak strength in 1943, with over 2 ...
office; they had two sons and a daughter.


References


Further reading

*Cross, Sir Kenneth. ''Straight and Level'', Grubb Street, 1993,


External links

*
Imperial War Museum Interview
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Cross, Kenneth Brian Boyd 1911 births 2003 deaths People educated at Kingswood School, Bath Royal Air Force air marshals Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Recipients of the War Cross with Sword (Norway) Officers of the Legion of Merit Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France) Commanders of the Order of Orange-Nassau Military personnel from Portsmouth