Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A Second World War pilot’s D.F.C. group of five awarded to Flight Lieutenant J. J. Cross, Royal Australian Air Force, who completed a busy tour of operations in Lancasters of No. 467 (R.A.A.F.) Squadron in 1944-45, his targets including the enemy cruiser Lutzow, the Urft Dam, and Dresden on the opening night of the famous ‘firestorm’ raids in February 1945: a stickler for accuracy, on one occasion he made three bombing runs through curtains of flak

Distinguished Flying Cross, G.VI.R., the reverse officially dated ‘1945’, in its Royal Mint case of issue; 1939-45 Star; France and Germany Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45; Australia Service Medal 1939-45, these last three officially engraved later issues to ‘424121 Cross, J. J.’, with a named box of issue and issuance slip, together with official duplicate 1939-45 and France and Germany Stars, these engraved, ‘42412 J. J. Cross, D’, in their named labelled box of issue, generally good very fine (8) £2000-2400

D.F.C. London Gazette 21 September 1945:

‘Flight Lieutenant Cross has successfully completed numerous sorties including attacks against the heavily defended targets of Nuremberg and Brunswick. He has displayed outstanding courage and on one occasion made three bombing runs, despite heavy anti-aircraft fire to ensure accuracy. This officer has at all times shown great keenness, determination and courage.’

James Joseph Cross, who was born in Parramatta, New South Wales in September 1922, enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force in August 1942. Selected for pilot training, he attended initial training schools at Somers and Benalla, prior to being embarked for Canada in March 1943. Having then gained his ‘Wings’ at Calgary and been advanced to Sergeant, he was embarked for the U.K.

Commissioned Pilot Officer in July 1944, he commenced his operational career with No. 467 (R.A.A.F.) Squadron, a Lancaster unit operating out of Waddington, Lincolnshire, in September: thus his first sortie as pilot - to Karlsruhe - flown on the night of the 26th-27th.

In October, he completed six further sorties, his targets ranging from gun positions at Flushing and Walcheren in support of the Combined Operations landings to the U-Boat pens at Bergen, in addition to more regular bomber activity against Bremen and Nurnberg. In the following month, among other targets, Cross and his crew attacked the heavily-defended Dortmund-Ems Canal, in addition to Munich and a target in Trondheim. Then in December, they were assigned to the oil refineries in Politz, Czechoslovakia, the enemy cruiser Lutzow at Gydnia, and to a ‘dambusting’ mission against the Urft; these varied targets in addition to Munich, Giessen, Heilbronn, and Munchen Gladbach.

Having then notched up their 20th sortie in the New Year - a strike on the oil refinery at Brux - Cross and his crew undertook five further sorties in February, including a return trip to Politz and the opening night of the famous ‘firestorm’ attack on Dresden on the 15th. Finally, in March, pilot and crew ended their operational tour with a spate of seven sorties in three weeks, among their targets being Dortmund in addition to enemy armour and troop concentrations.

Cross, who had been advanced to Flight Lieutenant in February, was awarded the D.F.C. He returned to Australia in July 1945 and was discharged at the year’s end.

Sold with the recipient’s original Royal Australian Air Force (R.A.A.F.) Flying Log Book, covering the period December 1942 until April 1945, together with R.A.A.F letter of notification for the award of his D.F.C., dated 29 October 1945, with related congratulatory telegram to his mother from the Minster for Air and Air Board, and two old copies of the citation, one signed by the Director of Personnel Services; a wartime crew photograph; the recipient’s R.A.A.F. Certificate of Service & Discharge, and a letter of reference; together with a set of tunic ribands, R.A.A.F. cap badge, embroidered ‘Wings’ (2) and ‘Australia’ shoulder flashes (2), and a copy of Diary of a Bomb Aimer, by Flying Officer Stephen Collier, also of No. 467 (R.A.A.F.) Squadron.