Philip James Crossman

Military

Assigned to 765BS, 461BG, 8AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) Odertal oil refinery in B-24 42-50953 'Flying Finger'; A/C downed by fighters. Prisoner of War (POW) MACR 10677





Awards: LOM, BS, AM (2OLC), PH, WWII Victory, EAME, OC, Air Force Commendation Medal, UN and Korean Medals .



Post war: Remained in USAF, serving in Korea and Vietnam, rising to rank of Colonel by his retirement in 1974.

Connections

See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.

Units served with

A B-24 Liberator of the 461st Bomb Group, 15th Air Force drops supplies over a Prisoner of War camp in Austria, May 1945. Handwritten caption on reverse: '9 May 1945, Last 'combat' mission of 461st BG to British POW camp near Villack, Austria. #33 flown by Lt John Stegman- 765th BS.'

461st Bomb Group

  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Fifteenth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment

Aircraft

42-50953

  • Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
  • Nicknames: Flying Finger
  • Unit: 461st Bomb Group 765th Bomb Squadron

Places

Dulag Luft 12

  • Site type: Prisoner of war camp
  • Known as: Dulag Luft Grosstychow Dulag 12
Prisoners of war, including Colonel Hubert Zemke of the 479th Fighter Group at Stalag Luft I.

Stalag Luft I

  • Site type: Prisoner of war camp
  • Known as: Stalag Luft I, Barth, Germany

Torretta

  • Site type: Airfield
  • Known as: Cerignola #3

Events

Event Location Date Description

Born

Lima, OH 19 May 1924 Son of Darwin and Theresa Crossman.

Enlisted

Toledo, OH 5 January 1943 Toledo, Ohio

Other

Baled out POW

Muglitz, Germany 17 December 1944 Failed to Return (FTR) Odertal oil refinery in B-24 42-50953 'Flying Finger'; A/C downed by fighters. POW MACR 10677

Other

Prisoner of War (POW)

Barth, Germany 18 December 1944 Prisoner of War (POW). Stalag Luft I.

Died

Glasgow, KY 18 January 2011

Buried

Glasgow Municipal cemetery, Glasgow, KY 22 January 2011 Glasgow Municipal cemetery Glasgow, KY

Based

Torretta 17 December 1944 Assigned to 765BS, 461BG, 8AF USAAF.

Revisions

Date
ContributorAl_Skiff
Changes
Sources

https://www.fold3.com/image/28696736
https://www.fold3.com/image/312802134?rec=306662261
https://www.fold3.com/record/88980231-philip-j-crossman
https://www.fold3.com/record/284070814-philip-james-crossman
http://www.461st.org/Crews/765th%20Crews/Crossman.html
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/64467869/phillip-james-crossman