Michael Crossley

Michael Nicholson Crossley, DSO, OBE, DFC (29 May 1912 – 7 December 1987) was a British flying ace of the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War. He is credited with having destroyed at least 22 aircraft and for a time was the RAF's most successful fighter pilot of the Second World War.

From Halford, Crossley joined the RAF in 1935. Once his flying training was completed, he was posted to No. 32 Squadron, based at Biggin Hill. By the time of the outbreak of the Second World War, Crossley was a flight lieutenant and led one of the squadron's flights. Flying the Hawker Hurricane fighter He achieved his first aerial victories during the Battle of France, for which he was subsequently awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. He flew extensively with the squadron for the first two months of the Battle of Britain, becoming its commander in mid-August 1940. His successes during the campaign over southeast England saw him awarded the Distinguished Service Order. He relinquished command of the squadron in April 1941 and was sent to the United States on test pilot duties. Due to a health condition, he was unable to fly on operations for the later years of the war by which time he held the rank of wing commander. Returning to civilian life in 1946, he took up agroforestry in South Africa. He died there, aged 75.