CROSSMAN, BILL
William ‘Bill’ Crossman was born October 30, 1920, son of Lewis and Louise Eliza (Courvosier) Crossman who lived on Balsam Road at the time of William’s birth.
It is understood that Bill Crossman left Canada with the Queens Own Rifles, but transferred to the British 8th Army once he was overseas and was part of the attack on Sicily with the 8th.
He was in a fox hole when an exploding bomb buried him alive. He managed to dig himself/be dug out but either at that point or subsequently he ended up with a leg injury/break and was hospitalized to England.
William Edward 'Bill' Crossman
The Eighth Army’s participation in the Italian Campaign began as part of the Allied invasion of the island of Sicily, code-named Operation Husky. When the Allies subsequently invaded mainland Italy, elements of the Eighth Army landed in the 'toe' of Italy in Operation Baytown and at Taranto in Operation Slapstick. After linking its left flank with the U.S. Fifth Army which had landed at Salerno on the west coast of Italy south of Naples, the Eighth Army continued fighting its way up Italy on the eastern flank of the Allied forces. Together these two armies made up the Allied Armies in Italy (later redesigned 15th Army Group
A later picture of Bill Crossman
After the war
