Caring for John Crossman's grave

Just heard from my friend in Chalfont St Giles.

He told me that the working party had a successful day's work in the churchyard the other day and all graves, including John Crossman's, are looking much neater. The grass had grown rather long because, my friend seems to remember, the previous monthly working party had been rained off.  This time, despite the forecast of rain, it remained dry but it was not easy work.

Sitting here so far away in Australia, it is wonderful to know that John Crossman and others who, like him, fell in war are being cared for so well by the dedicated men and women of Chalfont St Giles.

Extract from Australian Eagles: Australians in the Battle of Britain

John was the first man killed in the Second World War to be buried in Chalfont St Giles and the village grieved his loss as if he were one of their own. Indeed, he was buried as one of their own: ‘Ordinarily’ wrote Ann Brawn [John Crossman's aunt] to her brother, ‘it would have cost £50 to bury him but our rector let him be laid at ease as one of us’. Many villagers sent flowers and attended the funeral. John’s aunts sent a cross of bronze chrysanthemums and ordered another of laurel leaves, white chrysanthemums and red carnations on behalf of John’s parents, and sprays of Michaelmas daisies from his sister Joan and Patricia Foley. The young pilot was buried in the local churchyard beside his aunt, Florence Crossman, as Ann thought her brother would rather his son be ‘laid here than among strangers’.

John's family made the right decision in burying him in Chalfont St Giles. He is still considered 'one of us'.

(John's grave before it's regular spruce up, when the poppies are in bloom)

http://www.kristenalexander.com.au/books/australian-eagles

Early Bird Review for Australian Eagles

I am too excited. An Early Bird Review for Australian Eagles has appeared in the latest issue of Flightpath.

 

Written by aviation writer and pilot Owen Zupp (Down to Earth, 50 Flying Tales, http://www.owenzupp.com/_blog/Owen_Zupp) it is the very first review for Australian Eagles, which is due to hit the book shop shelves on 1 July!

 

 

Two months to go: Australian Eagles to be published 1 July 2013

The advance copy of Australian Eagles has arrived. It looks absolutely beautiful.

Apologies for the dodgy camerawork but you can get an idea of the quality of the production from these photos.

 

 

 

I am absolutely thrilled with it.

More than two fifths of the limited edition has been reserved and that is before Australian Eagles has even hit the bookshops!

Don't forget: you can have a sneak preview of one of the chapters. Just go to http://www.barrallierbooks.com/site/sites/default/files/Australian%20Eagles%20Sample%20Chapter.pdf and you can download the front matter and Dick Glyde’s story.

Alexander Fax Booksellers has extended the special offer period to 1 June so, if you have not reserved a copy, get in touch soon www.alexanderfaxbooks.com.au

Extract from Australian Eagles

Would you like to read an extract from Australian Eagles, which will be released on 1 July?

Click on the link for the Foreword, Author's Word and Dick Glyde's story.

http://www.barrallierbooks.com/site/sites/default/files/Australian%20Eagles%20Sample%20Chapter.pdf 

John Crossman at Cranwell, April 1940

April 1940: John Crossman had recently arrived at Cranwell for his advanced training. On 17 April he finally went solo on the Hart, a more powerful and manoeuvrable machine than the Tiger Moths he had trained on at Ansty.

 

 

(John Crossman and  the Australians on his training course at Cranwell, April 1940. John is on the far right hand end of the front row, sitting.)

 ‘Went solo this morning at last, thank the Lord. Beat the wind to it and had a good thirty minutes solo. It was good. To be alone once more. I must say Harts are a nuisance what with cheese cutters and winding the radiator in and out. There are so many gadgets to look after and a fellow has to be very much on the ‘que vive’ all the time especially as there are so many planes about to look for and keep away from.’

 He went solo again on the 18th and felt he was really coming along: ‘went up to 8000 and tried up some aerobatics. These Harts handle very well’. He was pleased that his training was advancing, but so was the war and he was frustrated that he was still a long way from it: ‘The navy is putting up a good show and has sunk about ten German warships. I wish I could get into it and do my bit, we are all longing to have a go at them.’

 

 

 John Crossman is one of the Australian pilots featured in Australian Eagles. Australians in the Battle of Britain, Barrallier Books, July 2013. Reserve your copy now of the high quality production, limited edition of 500 signed and numbered copies.  

 

 

Sergeant Bobby Fraser, 257 Squadron

On 4 April 2013, a moving ceremony was held at Moat Farm, Shadoxhurst to unveil a marker commemorating the spot where 20 year old Sergeant Pilot Robert HB (Bobby) Fraser of 257 Squadron died when his Hurricane V6851 crashed on 22 October 1940 after an encounter with Messerschmitt Me 109s over Folkestone. He is interred in Craigton Cemetery, Glasgow.

 

Hurricane pilot Bob Foster DFC, AE, was among those who attended the final tribute. Bob, of course, has an Australian connection as one of those who helped defended Darwin in 1943 in No. 1 Spitfire Wing. The plaque was unveiled by Kent High Sheriff Michael Bax. He owns the land where Bobby Fraser died and believed a permanent memorial to the airman should be erected.

 

Vale. And Rest in Peace.

 

 

(Bobby Fraser commemorative ceremony at Shadoxhurst, April 2013. Left to right: Geoff Simpson, Kathe ("Katie") Foster, Andy Simpson, chap from Headcorn branch of RAFA, Bob Foster nearest camera.  courtesy of Geoff Simpson. Taken by Barry Duffield)

(To left, holding RAF flag, The High Sheriff, Michael Bax, who owns the land. To Right, Bob Foster. Courtesy of Geoff Simpson. Photo taken by Barry Duffield.) 

John Crossman's Grave

My correspondent in Chalfont St Giles just sent through a very moving note about John Crossman:

'This afternoon, I looked after my youngest grandchildren [10 and 7] while they played by the stream flowing by the back of the churchyard. After that adventure ended without mishap, they decided they would like to visit Grandma's plaque in the churchyard. They were also interested in the war graves [their great-grandfather had been killed in WW2] so we looked at a couple of graves, including that of John Crossman, which has a small photo of him on the grave. The photograph wrapped in thin plastic sent with the wreath from Forest Row was not very waterproof, so a friend of mine used a copy of the formal photo you sent me to produce a replacement, with name added in small print, which he encapsulated and placed on John Crossman's grave. I explained to the children that John's story would be in your book and they were impressed when I showed them the same photograph in your flyer.'

John Crossman no longer has family living in Chalfont St Giles, where he is buried. His grave is now tended by the members of the parish church. It is wonderful to know that he is still remembered, and a younger generation are now aware of their links to Australia and the Battle of Britain.