P/O Crossland J

[Alain57]

P/O Crossland J from 122 Sqn became a POW when he crashlanded his Mustang Mk II FZ-131 on april 30th 1944 in Belgium. Is there someone who has an idea where he crashlanded ?

[Luc Vervoort]

Hi Alain,

P/O. John Crossland 169111 baled out and became a pow. His plane crashed near Arlon.He became pow. He is mentioned twice in the London Gazette (28/01/1944 and 18/12/1945).

Best regards

Luc

[Alain57]

Thanks Luc.

Alain

[SteveB]

Am I correct in believing that Arlon is in France (North of Metz) on the border with Luxembourg?

P/Off Crossland was quite successful in his short career with 122Sqn. He first appears on 122Sqn on 19/4. On 23/4 he was a member of a 4 a/c Ranger to Dole/Tavaux aerodrome on the Swiss border. The Section arrived over the target as eight He111s were preparing to land. Crossland claimed one destroyed and a share in two other He111s; he also claimed a Go242 on the ground. The mission on 30/4 was an eight a/c Ranger to the Metz area and the other pilots reported a Jungmeister destroyed on the ground by Crossland. The combat report for the day records that Crossland "was hit by light AA as the a/c were orbitting for the attack on ground targets; he developed a Glycol leak and baled out about 4 minutes into the homeward flight".


I believe that FZ131 was coded MT*N.

There is a photo of Crossland on page 95 of 2TAF Vol 1


Steve

[Leendert]

Arlon is in Belgium, but close to both Luxembourg and France.


Regards,

Leendert

[derneden@pt.lu]

Hello from Lux,

I have some info on Crossland. He did crash here in Luxembourg an not near Arlon. He was taken Pow by the germans. I have some pictures of the plane.

Best wishes

John

[SteveB]

Hi John

Your information is very interesting I would be pleased to see photos of his aircraft can you send me a PM?

Steve