Norman Robert Crosson
Military
Air Inspector - Command Pilot
466th BG
Object Number - UPL 43487 - Norman R. Crosson Air Inspector - Command Pilot 466th BG
Served a combat tour as a B-24 pilot with the 90th BG - 321st BS in the South Pacific. Survived a bailout and 12 day trek to be rescued in the outback of Australia.
Served as Air Inspector and Command Pilot with the 466th BG at Attlebridge.
Connections
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Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Headquarters
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Unit Hierarchy: Headquarters
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Nicknames: Black Cat
- Unit: 466th Bomb Group 784th Bomb Squadron
Missions
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: Attlebridge Arsenal, Station 120
Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Born |
Cincinnati, OH | 20 August 1915 | |
|
Enlisted |
Fort Thomas, KY | 20 August 1941 | |
|
Other Survived bail out over Australia |
Burketown QLD 4830, Australia | 3 December 1942 | Wartime History Assigned to the 5th Air Force, 90th Bombardment Group, 321st Bombardment Squadron. Assigned to pilot Lt. Norman R. Crosson. Nicknamed "Little Eva" by Crosson. Another bomber in the 320th Bombardment Squadron also had the same nickname B-24D "Little Eva" 41-23772. Mission History One of four B-24s that took off from Iron Range Airfield (Lockhart River Airport) on a high-level bombing mission against a Japanese convoy spotted north of Buna. During the mission, this bomber became separated from the formation and aborted the mission. Returning to to base, the bomber became lost over the Gulf of Carpentaria and ran low on fuel. Pilot Crosson ordered the crew to all bail out and assemble at the crash site. The B-24 flew onward without any pilot before impacting onto its belly near Moonlight Creek. Although all of the crew were ordered to bail out, it is believed McKeon, Hilton and Gurdas were working to free Workman's parachute which became caught in the door frame and all died when the bomber impacted the ground. Fates of the Crew The rest of the crew successfully parachuted to the ground, but landed in a very remote and desolate area of the Australian outback. Only Crosson and Wilson managed to reach the bomber as planned and walked eastward for twelve days until spotted by a rancher and Aboriginal walking across Escott Station, roughly 15km west of Burketown on December 15, 1942. During their ordeal, Crosson's weight dropped from 205 lbs to 155 lbs while wandering the outback. Both were hospitalized and later returned to duty. Grimes, Dyer, Speltic and Gaston landed near each other and headed to the west, attempting to walk across the outback to safety. Grimes reached Robinson River around December 25, 1942 but was swept into the ocean and drown. His body was found on the beach a few days later. Speltz died of exposure on February 24, 1943. Gaston reached a paper bark hut on Seven Emu Station on March 23, 1943. He had gray hair and only weighed about 80 lbs from his ordeal in the outback. He returned to the United States and worked for the US Postal Service then retired in Alabama until he died in 1998. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Eva_(aircraft) |
|
Died |
Greenville, SC, USA | 23 May 1989 | |
|
Buried |
Greenville, SC, USA | 28 May 1989 | Woodlawn Memorial Park Greenville Greenville County South Carolina, USA Plot: Garden of Memories |
| Cincinnati, OH, USA | 5848 Montgomery Road |
Revisions
Contributor466thHistorian
Changes
Sources
466th BG Archives - Report on Mission 150 - Bielefeld, Germany - 6 December 1944
Contributor466thHistorian
Changes
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / SO#173, 29Aug44, http://www.b24.net/support/cnames.html
