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Cross, George Henry DFC (Warrant Officer )

Prisoner of War 1944-February-20

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Birth Date: unkown date (age unknown)

Decorations: DFC, DFM


Distinguished Service CrossDistinguished Flying Medal
Service
RAF
Unit
35 (PFF) Sqn- Squadron (RAF)
Uno Anima Agimus We Act with One Accord
Base
RAF Graveley
Rank
Warrant Officer
Marshal
Air Chief MarshalA/C/M
Air MarshalA/M
Air Vice MarshalA/V/M
Air CommodoreA/C
Group CaptainG/C
Wing CommanderW/C
Squadron LeaderS/L
Flight LieutenantF/L
Flying OfficerF/O
Pilot OfficerP/O
Warrant Officer 1st ClassWO1
Warrant Officer 2nd ClassWO2
Flight SergeantFS
SergeantSGT
CorporalCPL
Senior AircraftmanSAC
Leading AircraftmanLAC
Aircraftman 1st ClassAC1
Aircraftman 2nd ClassAC2
Position
Flight Engineer
Service Numbers
1268573
PoW: 3039

Halifax B/GR.Mk.III HX325

Combat Leipzig Germany 1944-February-19 to 1944-February-20

35 (PFF) Sqn (RAF) RAF Graveley

35 Squadron RAF (Uno Anima Agimus), Pathfinder Force, RAF Graveley. Halifax III aircraft HX325 TL-J was shot down by a Ju88 night fighter flown by Felwebel Frank of NJG3 on February 21, 1944 while engaged in an operation against targets in Leipzig, Germany. The aircraft crashed at Beedenbostel, Germany

Knight was killed by the night fighter. Sale, although wounded during the action, stayed at the controls so his crew could bale out, crash-landed his aircraft and managed to get out. It was his fiftieth trip. Sale was taken Prisoner of War and died in hospital a month later from his wounds. The rest of his surviving crew, Carter, Bodnar, Lamb, Rogers and Cross were taken as Prisoners of War

General Halifax HX325 (19/02/1944) I No.35 Squadron

General Aircraft losses from Graveley 1942-1945. I RAF Graveley

Took off from Graveley at 23:51 in Halifax Mk III (Sqn code TL-J Bomber Command) on an operation to Leipzig Germany.

Outbound at 20000 feet shot down by a night fighter. The aircraft crashed at Beedenbostel, Germany.

Killed: Squadron Leader Douglas Julian Sale RCAF J/9929 KIA Choloy War Cemetery, France grave 1. G. 8. Flight Sergeant Kenneth Knight RAF KIA Hanover War Cemetery grave 5. C. 7.

POWs: F/Lt Boris Oleh Bodnar RCAF J/17669 POW Stalag Luft L3 Sagan and Belaria. Squadron Leader Gordon Henry Francis Carter RCAF J/11213 POW Stalag Luft L3 Sagan and Belaria. Squadron Leader Douglas Julian Sale RCAF J/9929 POW camp not listed. W/O George Henry Cross RAF POW Stalag 357 Kopernikus. Flight Sergeant Robert Lionel Lamb RAF POW Stalag Luft L3 Sagan and Belaria. F/Lt Harold John Rogers RAF POW Stalag Luft L3 Sagan and Belaria.

Footprints on the Sands of Time, RAF Bomber Command Prisoners of War in Germany 1939-45 by Oliver Clutton-Brock page 274
Target
Google MapLeipzig Germany

Halifax HX325

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Flight Lieutenant Bodnar, Boris Olen (RCAF)
Navigator
Prisoner of War
1944-February-20
cemetery unknown

Squadron Leader Carter, Gordon Henry Francis (RCAF)
Navigator/Bomb Aimer
Prisoner of War
1944-February-20
cemetery unknown

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Warrant Officer Cross, George Henry (RAF)
Flight Engineer
Prisoner of War
1944-February-20
cemetery unknown

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Flight Sergeant Knight, Kenneth (RAFVR)
Air Gunner
Killed in Action
1944-February-20
CWG Cemetery, Hanover, Germany

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Flight Lieutenant Lamb, Robert Lionel (RAFVR)
Air Gunner
Prisoner of War
1944-February-20
cemetery unknown

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Flight Lieutenant Rogers, Harold John (RAFVR)
Wireless Operator/Air Gunner
Prisoner of War
1944-February-20
cemetery unknown

Squadron Leader Sale, Douglas Julian (RCAF)
Pilot
Prisoner of War KIA
1944-February-20
Choloy War Cemetery, Meurthe-Etmoselle, France

Previous Events

1943-December-20 Warrant Officer Survived

Halifax B/GR.Mk.IIITL-J

35 PFF Sqn RAF

Halifax B/GR.Mk.III HX328

Combat Frankfurt Germany 1943-December-19 to 1943-December-20

35 (PFF) Sqn (RAF) Graveley UK

35 Squadron RAF (Uno Anima Agimus), Pathfinder Force, RAF Graveley. Halifax III aircraft HX 328 TL-J, returning from an operation to Frankfurt, Germany had a Target Illuminator (TI) munition malfunction, which ignited in the aircraft bomb bay as it was preparing to land. Sale gained altitude to allow his crew to bale from the burning aircraft, which most were able to do. As Sale was himself about to bale, he realized that his mid-upper gunner, Lamb was unable to bale due to a fire-damaged parachute. Sale resumed control of the bomber and managed to land it safely and taxi off the runway. Both he and Lamb escaped from the aircraft, which exploded as they ran to get clear. Both men survived and continued to fly together. Carpenter suffered a broken ankle.

Sale was awarded a Bar to his DSO for this act of determination and braveryinformation from book: The Pathfinder Companion War Diaries of the RAF Pathfinder Force-1942-1945 by Sean Feast, Grub Street Press 2012

General 1943-02 I No. 35 Squadron

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Flying Officer Carpenter,George (RAF)
Air Gunner
Survived
1943-December-20
cemetery unknown

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Squadron Leader Carter, Gordon Henry Francis (RCAF)
Navigator/Bomb Aimer
Survived
1943-December-20
cemetery unknown

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Warrant Officer Cross, George Henry (RAF)
Flight Engineer
Survived
1943-December-20
cemetery unknown

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Flt. Lieutenant Dowling, Alan James (RAF)
Navigator
Survived
1943-December-20
cemetery unknown

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Flight Lieutenant Lamb, Robert Lionel (RAF)
Air Gunner
Survived
1943-December-20
cemetery unknown

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Warrant Officer Rees, Marcus (RAF)
Wireless Operator
Survived
1943-December-20
cemetery unknown

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Squadron Leader Sale, Douglas Julian (RCAF)
Pilot
Survived
1943-December-20
cemetery unknown

Handley Page Halifax

(RAF Photo, 1942)(Source Harold A Skaarup Web Page)A Royal Air Force Handley Page Halifax Mk. II Series I (Serial No. W7676), coded TL-P, of No. 35 Squadron, RAF, based at Linton-on-Ouse, Yorkshire in the UK, being piloted by Flight Lieutenant Reginald Lane, (later Lieutenant-General, RCAF), over the English countryside. Flt Lt Lane and his crew flew twelve operations in W7676, which failed to return from a raid on Nuremberg on the night of 28/29 August 1942, when it was being flown by Flt Sgt D. John and crew.

The Handley Page Halifax is a British Royal Air Force (RAF) four-engined heavy bomber of the Second World War. It was developed by Handley Page to the same specification as the contemporary twin-engine Avro Manchester.

The Halifax has its origins in the twin-engine HP56 proposal of the late 1930s, produced in response to the British Air Ministry's Specification P.13/36 for a capable medium bomber for "world-wide use." The HP56 was ordered as a backup to the Avro 679, both aircraft being designed to use the underperforming Rolls-Royce Vulture engine. The Handley Page design was altered at the Ministry to a four-engine arrangement powered by the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine; the rival Avro 679 was produced as the twin-engine Avro Manchester which, while regarded as unsuccessful mainly due to the Vulture engine, was a direct predecessor of the famed Avro Lancaster. Both the Lancaster and the Halifax would emerge as capable four-engined strategic bombers, thousands of which would be built and operated by the RAF and several other services during the War.

On 25 October 1939, the Halifax performed its maiden flight, and it entered service with the RAF on 13 November 1940. It quickly became a major component of Bomber Command, performing routine strategic bombing missions against the Axis Powers, many of them at night. Arthur Harris, the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Bomber Command, described the Halifax as inferior to the rival Lancaster (in part due to its smaller payload) though this opinion was not shared by many of the crews that flew it, particularly for the MkIII variant. Nevertheless, production of the Halifax continued until April 1945. During their service with Bomber Command, Halifaxes flew a total of 82,773 operations and dropped 224,207 tons of bombs, while 1,833 aircraft were lost. The Halifax was also flown in large numbers by other Allied and Commonwealth nations, such as the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), Free French Air Force and Polish forces. Wikipedia

YouTube Halifax Heavy Bomber WWII

General Harold A Skaarup Web Page

Wkikpedia Wikipedia Halifax Bomber

Museum National Air Force Museum of Canada

last update: 2023-12-08 20:34:11

Halifax B/GR.Mk.III HX325

TLRAF RoundelJ
Failed to Return, Leipzig, 20.2.44
Unit 35

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