Peter Alan Crosby       Photo: Knud Riis          Updated: 12 JAN 2022
                                                                              
Airman: a014198.htm Surname: Crosby Init: P A Rank: F/Lt Service: RAAF Sqdn: 460

P_link: p289.htm Plane: LAN ME663 Operation: Minelaying Crash_site: Aale

Crash_d: d100444 Buried_d: b150444 C_link: c014.htm At_Next: Esbjerg, A. 7. 7

 Mindesten for flyvere fra LAN ME663. Se 47 navne i London og Horsens og Google Map HorsensEH47.
      Google Map Mine 10 APR 1944 * Minelægningsområder.
Memorial stone to airmen of LAN ME663. See 47 names in London and Horsens
      and Google Map HorsensEH47 * Google Map Mine 10 APR 1944 * Minelaying areas.

LAN ME663 blev skudt i brand omkring kl. 03.30 over Østjylland af en tysk natjager i 23.000 fods højde. "Efter en undvigelsesmanøvre ned til 18.000 fod gav piloten Peter Crosby ordre til at forlade maskinen. Alle bekræftede ordren, da flyet i det samme krængede over og først fladede ud i 6.000 fods højde. Piloten gentog ordren og nu hastede det, idet flyet igen dykkede. Det brændte fra begge vinger, og flammer slikkede hen langs kroppen, da det lykkedes agterskytten Stanley Hodge at slippe ud af tårnet. Han landede på en ejendom umiddelbart nord for Bjerregaard, mens flyet fortsatte og eksploderede 1 km nord for Aale by."
(Fra Jens Thomsen, Tørring) Gå til Stanley F. Hodge og læs mere.

"Vragdele blev spredt ud over et par kilometer. En vinge faldt ved Aale-Mattrupvejen, og to motorer faldt på en nærliggende mark, hvor også et par flyvere lå dræbt. Flykroppen havde pløjet sig ind i den sydlige ende af Mattrup plantage, hvor man fandt endnu et par besætningsmedlemmer. Ved otte-tiden stødte man langt inde i plantagen på den sjette flyver i nærmest livløs tilstand. Det var navigatøren F/O Charles Edward "Ted" Suffren. På sin vandpose havde han skrevet: "Kl. 3.40 angrebet af jager, slynget ud af flyet. Brækket ryggen. Hils min familie, Ted - kl. 5.10 smerter ulidelige." (FT 90-104-24) Gå til Charles E. Suffren og læs mere.

Flight Lieutenant Peter Alan Crosby, 20 år, var søn af Wilfred Alan og Vera Maud Crosby, Seacliff, South Australia, Australien. Hæderstegn: DFC, Distinguished Flying Cross. (Kilde: CWGC)

Den 1. februar 1946 fik fru Henriksen brev fra Johanne Davidsen (f. Hornemann), Adelaide, Syd-Australien, trykt i FAF s. 193:
"Jeg har fået Deres navn og adresse fra fru Vera Crosby i Seacliff i Syd-Australien. Hendes søn kaptajn Peter Alan Crosby (4166) var the pilot af den Lancaster flyvemaskine, hvor Stanley Hodge (fra Queensland) var reargunner. Hun fortalte mig, at De var så god mod Stanley Hodge og gav et måltid den årle morgen han faldt ned og kom til Deres hjem... Det har ikke været muligt for fru Crosby at høre noget om hendes søn; vi håbede at vi måske gennem Dem kunne høre noget om, hvad der skete... Selv har jeg to sønner, der har været med i krigen herude mod japanerne. Gud være lovet, er de nu på vej hjem her til Adelaide...."

FAF s. 194, citat fra Kristeligt Dagblad den 17. juli 1953:
"På Peter Crosbys 30 års fødselsdag forleden stod hans forældre stærkt bevægede ved sønnens grav i mindelunden i Esbjerg."
Se avisartikel fra 1994 Omsorg for de faldne og Krigsminder sendt hjem til Australien.
Se Om mindeceremonier 4. maj 2011 og tale af Anders Straarup.

5 flyvere fra LAN ME663 begravet i Esbjerg 15. april 1944. 2 blev krigsfanger. Den ene af dem var hårdt såret og døde i Tyskland 16. februar 1945. Se p289MACR.

LAN ME663 caught fire about 03.30 over East Jutland, hit by a German night fighter at an altitude of 23,000 feet. "After an evasive manoeuvre down to 18,000 feet Pilot Peter Crosby gave the order to abandon the plane. They all confirmed the order, but the plane turned over and went down to 6,000 feet before he regained control. The pilot repeated the order and now it was urgent, as the plane dived again. Both wings were burning and flames were licking along the fuselage, when Rear Gunner Stanley Hodge managed to get out of the tower. He landed at a farm just north of Bjerregaard, while the plane went on and exploded 1 km north of the village of Aale."
(From Jens Thomsen, Tørring) Go to Stanley F. Hodge to read more.

"Debris was scattered over a couple of kilometres. A wing fell at the Aale-Mattrup road, and two engines fell on a field nearby, where also a couple of deceased airmen were found. The fuselage had ploughed itself into the southern part of Mattrup plantation, where another couple of crew members were found. Way into the plantation about 8 a.m. the search party found the sixth airman nearly lifeless. It was Navigator F/O Charles Edward "Ted" Suffren. He had written on his water bag, "At 03.40 attacked by fighter, thrown out of the aircraft. Back broken. Love to my family, Ted - 05.10 pain unbearable." (FT 90-104-24) Gå til Charles E. Suffren og læs mere.

Flight Lieutenant Peter Alan Crosby, 20, was the son of Wilfred Alan and Vera Maud Crosby, of Seacliff, South Australia.Awards: DFC, the Distinguished Flying Cross.  Virtual War Memorial Australia has this. He is remembered on The Walls of Names at the International Bomber Command Centre, Phase 1, Panel 25.   

On 1 February, 1946 Mrs Henriksen had a letter from Johanne Davidsen (nee Hornemann), Adelaide, South Australia, printed in FAF p. 193, translated here:
"I got your name and address from Mrs Vera Crosby of Seacliff, South Australia. Her son Captain Peter Alan Crosby (4166) was Pilot of the Lancaster, where Stanley Hodge (from Queensland) was Rear Gunner. She told me that you were so kind to Stanley Hodge and gave him a meal the early morning he fell down and came to your home... It has not been possible for Mrs Crosby to hear anything about her son; we hoped that via you we could hear something about what happened... I myself have two sons, who have been in the war out here against the Japanese. Thank God, they are now on their way back home to Adelaide...."

FAF p. 194, a quotation from the newspaper Kristeligt Dagblad 17 July, 1953:
"On Peter Crosby´s 30th birthday the other day his parents stood at their son´s grave in the memorial grove in Esbjerg, deeply moved."

5 airmen from LAN ME663 were buried in Esbjerg on 15 April, 1944. 2 became POWs. One of them badly injured, so he died in Germany on 16 February, 1945.
See p289MACR * 460 Squadron RAAF * No. 460 Squadron RAAF * RAF-Lincolnshire.info has this. Lancaster Photos. 7 airmen.
Lancaster I ME663 AR-M took off from RAF Binbrook at 21.20 hrs on 09 APR 1944. (Source: Aircrew Remembered has this including an extensive Archive Report.)