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Eighth Air Force Patch and Navigator’s Wings.
A post-war periscopic sextant often mounted this type of watch.
Developed navigation tools, trained distance fliers in air navigation, and advised the Army Air Corps
Lead navigator of the 100th Bomb Group, Eighth Air Force.
After the harrowing losses of 1943, Crosby and his fellow crew members found less opposition in 1944 and 1945. However, navigational challenges increased as missions moved deeper into central Europe.
In early 1941, the Army Air Corps had only 44 trained navigators, mostly from a civilian contract school. By war’s end, the Army Air Forces had graduated over 50,000 navigators from its own schools.
On October 8, 1943, the 100th Bomb Group targeted the heavily defended German industrial city of Bremen. Here, he inspects the remnants of his navigator’s compartment after his B-17 Just a-Snappin crash-landed.
