Edward Neufville Crosse

Brigadier Edward Neufville Crosse, CBE, MC and Bar (19 January 1898 – 9 October 1970), was an officer in the British Army who served during the First World War, the Iraqi Revolt, and the Second World War.

Crosse served as a junior officer with the Royal Field Artillery on the Western Front during the First World War, and was mentioned in despatches and awarded the Military Cross. Crosse fought in the Battle of the Somme, during which two of his three brothers were killed and another wounded. He continued to serve in the interwar period and was awarded a Bar to his Military Cross for conspicuous gallantry in Iraq in 1920.

During the Second World War he held staff positions in the War Office until 1943, when he became commander of the 100th Anti-Aircraft Brigade. He led the brigade through the campaign in North West Europe, for which he was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1945. In March 1945, he became Commander, Royal Artillery, of the 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division for their final push to liberate the Netherlands, and after the surrender of German forces there he was tasked with overseeing the disarmament and internment of the 34th SS Volunteer Grenadier Division. For this service he was made a Knight Commander of the Order of Orange-Nassau (with Swords).

In June 1945 he was appointed Commander, Corps Royal Artillery, I Corps as part of the British Army of the Rhine, where he remained until March 1948. In November of that year he took his final posting as aide-de-camp to King George VI, a post he held until his retirement in May 1951.

Early life Crosse was born in Canterbury, Kent, in 1898, the youngest of eight children born to Thomas George Crosse, a clergyman born in India, and his wife Fanny Maria (née Simpson), who was born in Yorkshire. Fanny had previously been married to Charles James Nelson, who died in 1880. A daughter from that marriage, Charlotte Hallowell Nelson, was raised in the Crosse household and appears in census returns as Thomas Crosse's stepdaughter.

Crosse attended St Lawrence College, Ramsgate from 1911 to 1914, before enrolling in the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich between 1914 and 1915.

First World War

All four Crosse brothers were commissioned into the British Army during the First World War, and served on the Western Front. Edward was commissioned into the Royal Field Artillery in 1915, joining 47th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery as part of the 14th (Light) Division in March 1916. His eldest brother, Thomas Latymer Crosse, was a captain in the Border Regiment, Robert Grant Crosse was a lieutenant in the Royal West Kent Regiment, and Edward’s youngest brother George Hallewell Crosse initially joined the Yorkshire Regiment, before transferring to 104th Company, Machine Gun Corps, in 1916.

The brothers all fought at the Battle of the Somme in 1916, an action which exacted a heavy toll on the family. Thomas was killed by machine gun fire in the fighting at Fricourt on 3 July, aged 27. Less than two weeks later on 14 July, and less than five miles away, Robert died of wounds sustained in shellfire at Trônes Wood, at the age of 22. Map of the Battle of the Somme, 1916. Fricourt and Mountauban are both shown. The dotted line marked 14 July intersects Trônes Wood, east of Mountauban. Edward had been in action in the Arras sector during this time but redeployed to Montauban-de-Picardie between 26 and 27 August so that the brigade’s artillery could cover Delville Wood, only a few miles from where both brothers had been killed. In a letter home to his sister Margaret, dated 26 August 1916, Edward wrote:

I am doing my best to find Tom’s and Rob’s graves; I have not been successful as yet, but I am going to the Register of Graves tomorrow to find out exactly where they are on the map and I suspect I will find them without difficulty. You see, the wood in which Tom is buried is pretty big and as far as I can make out, there is no special graveyard, but people were buried practically where they fell.

On the same day, less than two miles away, his youngest brother George was wounded in fighting in and around the Maltz Horn trenches, on the edge of Trônes Wood, where Robert had been fatally wounded less than two months prior. In another letter dated 29 September 1916, Edward wrote of George "rotten luck and yet good luck Hal being wounded, isn’t it? But fancy getting three solid weeks leave in Blighty, I do envy him."

Iraq campaign Iraq's 1920 Revolution. Hilla can be seen directly south of Baghdad. Crosse and the column were aiming to move to a Al-Kifl, halfway between Hilla and Kufa. Edward and George both remained in the Army after the war and took part in British operations during the Iraq campaign of the early 1920s. Edward served with 39th Battery, 19th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery during the campaign, and fought in the action near Hillah (Hilla) in July 1920, during which a relief expedition, commonly known as ‘the Manchester Column’, was heavily attacked during a "night retreat which ended so disastrously [and] cost [the column] twenty killed, sixty wounded, and three hundred and eighteen missing".

Crosse wrote a detailed account to his parents on 25 July 1920, the day after the battle, in which he described the chaos of the withdrawal, including a stampede of mules and horses that resulted in 8 to 9 miles of his 14 mile retreat being done on foot after his horses were lost. He describes how his section became isolated as the rearguard against superior numbers and brought their guns into action at point blank range, before driving off attacking enemy forces with rifle fire. At least eight men from the battery were killed, but Crosse noted that “we can thank our lucky stars that we got out of it all with so few casualties.”

Second World War Interwar career and staff service Crosse remained in the army throughout the interwar period. After promotion to captain in 1927, with seniority from 1924, he attended the Staff College, Camberley, in 1931. Other overseas postings followed, including to India, and he was promoted to major in 1936.

In October 1938, Crosse was appointed to the Adjutant-General's Branch as a Deputy Assistant Adjutant-General, a post he held at the outbreak of war. In August 1940, Crosse left the War Office and returned to field command with the 46th Light Anti-Aicraft Regiment, during which time he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. He relinquished this rank in August 1942 when he took command of 20th Anti-Tank Regiment, followed by 187th Field Regiment in December that year. The brigade served throughout the campaign in North West Europe as one of two anti-aircraft brigades operating in direct support of British Second Army operations, not only in an anti-aircraft role, but also as ground, bridge, river and anti-tank defence. Crosse's leadership of the 100th Anti-Aircraft Brigade resulted in his recommendation for a CBE in October 1944. Under Crosse's command, the brigade expanded to include the 86th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery, 73rd Anti-Tank Regiment, the Royal Netherlands Brigade, one troop of the 13th/18th Royal Hussars and a company of the King's Royal Rifle Corps, forming a composite force for anti-tank and ground defence.

Crosse was said to have "organised this force rapidly and effectively and for a period of 10 days contributed largely to the security of the communications of the 30th Corps." At its peak, the formation comprised 20 sub-units and 9,195 personnel. The operation concluded on 15 September.

Operation Market Garden The recommendation then turned to the brigade's role during and immediately after Operation Market Garden. 100th Anti-Aircraft Brigade's initial orders in the operation were to provide anti-aircraft cover for the advance of XXX Corps and the bridges over the River Waal once captured, including those at Arnhem and Nijmegen, as well as provide anti-motor torpedo boat defence for the bridges at Nijmegen. In the event, Crosse and the brigade were instead tasked with air, ground and river defence of the Grave bridge over the River Maas, bridges over the Maas-Waal canal, and the road, rail and pontoon bridges over the River Waal at Nijmegen. From Crosse's CBE recommendation:

Damaged railway bridge at Nijmegen, following the "partially successful" attack by frogmen. September 1944.

From September 21st the security of the crossings over the River Waal became a commitment of the first importance, and it was evident that the enemy's prime object was to capture or destroy the bridges at Nijmegen. After the enemy's partially successful attack on the 29th September Brigadier Crosse was again given a mixed force and was charged with the close defence of the bridges against air, ground and river-borne attack. He has carried out these duties with marked success.

Final operations in 1945 Crosse was then appointed Commander, Royal Artillery, of 49th Infantry Division in March 1945. His actions in this posting earned him the honour of Knight Commander of the Order of Oranje-Nassau with Swords, for which he was recommended in August 1945 and gazetted in May 1947. In late March 1945, 49th Division received orders to begin clearing "The Island", an area of the Netherlands which had been left in German hands after the failure of Operation Market Garden. This was completed in early April with relatively light casualties, and 49th Division's actions culminated in the Liberation of Arnhem. According to Crosse's nomination for his Order of Oranje-Nassau award:

The successes enjoyed by the [Division] during this period were largely due to the scale of fire power provided in each operation. [Brigadier] Crosse was mainly responsible for implementing fire plans and he carried out his duties most successfully.

Post-war Following the surrender of German forces in the Netherlands on 4 May 1945, Crosse was appointed to oversee the disarmament and internment of the 34th SS Volunteer Grenadier Division "Landstorm Nederland". as explanation of the difference in treatment between SS and Wehrmacht. Kohlroser withdrew his protest. He would hold this post until his retirement in May 1951. In October 1929 he married Margaret Katharine Mackillop Brown, who survived him. Crosse died in Yeovil in October 1970, aged 72.