Chalfont St Giles and John Crossman

The Chalfont St Giles parish church dates from the 12th Century. It has fine stained glass windows—mostly Victorian but a few much older—and wall paintings from the 14th–15th centuries. The weather over the last month or so has been warm and wet and the grass in the churchyard had grown considerably and so the parish recently conducted another working bee and the grounds are once again neat and tidy. A big 'down-under' thank you to the diligent parishioners, especially my friend Ian.

 

Recently, one of the Friends of the parish was talking to a visitor who brought two German friends with her. The visitor explained that back in the eighties she had met the fiancée of a pilot buried in the churchyard. It did not take too much detective work to realise that this visitor had met John Crossman’s fiancée, Pat. (The other RAF grave is that of a married airman.)

 

My friend Ian contacted her and she told him that, on 26 August 1988, she had her family had been returning by boat from the Scilly Isles. The weather was poor and combined with rough seas there were a number of queasy people on the upper deck. She found myself seated next Pat. Pat explained that she had gone to Chalfont St Giles a number of times over the years and would be visiting John’s grave again soon. They met briefly when Pat returned to Chalfont St. Giles and had a perfect English tea, in a perfect English garden. It is heart warming to think that this woman has  visited John’s grave in Pat’s stead and shared John’s story with two German friends.

 

 

 

An extract from my Australia’s Few blog http://australiansinthebattleofbritain.blogspot.com.au/ was recently published in the Chalfont St Giles parish magazine.

 

 

John Crossman's Grave

My correspondent in Chalfont St Giles just sent through a very moving note about John Crossman:

'This afternoon, I looked after my youngest grandchildren [10 and 7] while they played by the stream flowing by the back of the churchyard. After that adventure ended without mishap, they decided they would like to visit Grandma's plaque in the churchyard. They were also interested in the war graves [their great-grandfather had been killed in WW2] so we looked at a couple of graves, including that of John Crossman, which has a small photo of him on the grave. The photograph wrapped in thin plastic sent with the wreath from Forest Row was not very waterproof, so a friend of mine used a copy of the formal photo you sent me to produce a replacement, with name added in small print, which he encapsulated and placed on John Crossman's grave. I explained to the children that John's story would be in your book and they were impressed when I showed them the same photograph in your flyer.'

John Crossman no longer has family living in Chalfont St Giles, where he is buried. His grave is now tended by the members of the parish church. It is wonderful to know that he is still remembered, and a younger generation are now aware of their links to Australia and the Battle of Britain.