Kenneth Brian Boyd Cross

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Kenneth Cross as Group Captain in North Africa, ca.1942

Air Chief Marshal Sir Kenneth Cross KCB CBE , DSO , DFC , RAF , (* 4. October 1911 in Portsmouth , † 18th June 2003 ) was an officer in the Air Force of the United Kingdom . He was commonly known by his nickname, Bing .

Life

Cross was the eldest son of the expert Henry Cokayne Cross and his wife Jeanie Boyd. He was educated at Hilsea College, Portsmouth, Havant High School, and Kingswood School.

Cross joined the Royal Air Force in April 1930 and from 1931 initially served with No. 25 Squadron. In 1934 he became a member of the Cambridge University Air Squadron. In December 1938, Squadron Leader Cross became a reserve liaison officer .

From October 1938 he served as commanding officer of No. 46 Squadron and directed their flight missions over Norway during World War II . For his service in Norway he was awarded the Norwegian War Cross.

After being recalled to England in 1940, Cross only barely survived the attack by the German battleships Scharnhorst (ship, 1936) and Gneisenau (ship, 1936) on the aircraft carrier Glorious and its fleet. He then received the DFC .

In June 1944 he was appointed Director of Overseas Operations . After the war he was transferred to the Air Ministry , first as head of the weapons arsenal and later as head of air defense.

In 1956 he became the commanding air officer of No. 3 Group and three years later Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Bomber Command . In 1961, he was finally appointed Air Marshal .

He reached his last military rank in 1963 as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Transport Command . In 1967 he retired.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b "Air Chief Marshal Sir Kenneth Cross-pilot who landed on Hurricanes on aircraft carrier and which figure in the RAF to influential" , The Times , 2003. Retrieved on 2 March 2010, June 23.
  2. ↑ a b c d e Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organization - Air Chief Marshal Sir Kenneth Cross
  3. ↑ a b http://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/35731/supplements/4343  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.thegazette.co.uk  
personal data
SURNAME Cross, Kenneth Brian Boyd
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Cross, Sir Kenneth Brian Boyd (full name); Bing
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British Air Force officer in the United Kingdom
DATE OF BIRTH October 4, 1911
PLACE OF BIRTH Portsmouth
DATE OF DEATH June 18, 2003