Harry Herbert Crosby

Lieutenant Colonel Harry Herbert Crosby (April 18, 1919 – July 28, 2010) was an American professor, author and B-17 Flying Fortress navigator. As an officer of the United States Army Air Forces in World War II, he flew 32 combat missions and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (with two oak leaf clusters), the Air Medal (with three oak leaf clusters), the Bronze Star, and the Croix de Guerre.

Biography On December 13, 1941, following the Imperial Japanese Navy attack on Pearl Harbor, Crosby suspended his graduate degree studies at the University of Iowa to enlist in the United States Army Air Forces. He was assigned to Mather Field, California, where he trained as a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress navigator. Transferred to Boise, Idaho, Crosby was assigned to the 418th Squadron of the 100th Bombardment Group. In May 1943 he was one of 36 original "Bloody 100th" combat crews who flew their B-17s to Warton, England and a week later to their base at RAF Thorpe Abbotts, in East Anglia.

Crosby's first combat mission was on June 28, 1943:

In November 1943, Crosby was promoted to lead navigator of the 100th Bomb Group

Crosby's account later became source material for the 2024 Spielberg-Hanks production Masters of the Air, where he is portrayed by Irish actor Anthony Boyle.

Crosby was featured in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum's Time and Navigation Display, which can be viewed on-line. His wartime scrapbook can also be viewed there.

Harry Crosby died on July 28, 2010, at age 91.