Stafford Henry Cruise:STAFFORD HENRY "Paddy" Cruise, who has died in Brisbane, Australia, at the age of 99, was born in 1913 in Rathgar, Dublin, the seventh of 13 children, of whom he was the last survivor.
His parents were William Alexander Raleigh Cruise, the first general manager and secretary of the Hibernian Fire and General Insurance Co, and Tempy Adye-Curran. His grandfather, Richard Joseph Cruise MRIA, was one of the geologists who undertook the mapping of Ireland’s bedrocks for the Geological Survey of Ireland in the late 19th century and was a colleague of the celebrated artist George Victor Du Noyer.
One of the first pupils to be educated at the newly opened Presentation College in Bray, Stafford joined the Royal Air Force in 1936 at the instigation of his brother Barney, who was very keen on them both becoming pilots.
Initially, Stafford was reluctant but Barney persuaded him to toss a coin for it. Stafford lost. Having completed his flying training, his officer’s commission was signed by the soon-to-abdicate King Edward VIII, making him one of only about 50 pilots to receive commissions in such a fashion.
In May 1937 he was posted to 151 (fighter) squadron, and took part in many pre-war air shows such as Empire Air Day 1938.
Stafford and his brothers were all skilled rugby players, and in the late 1930s a Cruise team played Old Belvedere in a one-off game with all seven Cruise brothers making up the back line. On a number of occasions during the war years he togged out for London Irish much to the envy of his brothers. Of course, it being wartime there was a shortage of players, a fact he conveniently omitted to mention to them.
Shortly before the outbreak of war in 1939 and with the rank of flying officer, he was posted to No 12 Flying Training School as a flight instructor. This was to prove a key role in the forthcoming Battle of Britain, where the heavy losses in fighter pilots brought the RAF to the brink of defeat at the hands of the Luftwaffe in September 1940. Replacement pilots needed to be trained quickly and efficiently to keep RAF fighter command operational as an effective fighting force.
Experienced pilots such as Stafford were essential in keeping a steady supply of new pilots flowing into the front-line squadrons. He was also posted to Camp Borden in Canada, where he was involved in training the first batch of pilots that would enter the fray from that country, a trickle that would later grow into a flow of thousands.
In July 1942 he was appointed squadron leader of 163 squadron, a newly reformed transport squadron based in Asmara, the capital of the recently captured colony of Italian East Africa, modern day Eritrea.
It was here on September 9th, 1942, that Cruise crashed his Lockheed Hudson on take-off, cartwheeling the aircraft down the runway in a ball of flames. When it came to a halt he found that he was still alive but the aircraft was well and truly ablaze.
The Hudson cockpit had a reputation for being a difficult one to escape from in an emergency, but the small and svelte Cruise reckoned he never even touched the sides on the way out.
As an acting wing commander, Cruise spent the last two years of the war as commanding officer and chief flying instructor of the British air mission to Turkey. At war’s end he left the RAF in September 1945 and after a short stay in Ireland (his last) he sailed for South Africa, where he spent two years working in the diamond mines, amongst other adventures. In May 1948 he arrived by flying boat in Australia, where he would spend the rest of his life.
Initially employed in the insurance business, it wasn’t long before he picked up the nickname “Paddy”, the name by which he was known by everybody in Australia, including his wife and family.
One day on his travels he walked into a country golf club and saw a beautiful girl wearing a pretty dress, asked his mate for an introduction and announced that he was going to marry her. In true RAF fashion, given that every operation by it is planned on the basis of success, he married this girl, Josie O’Brien, in November 1951. They eventually settled in Surfers Paradise, where they ran a number of successful holiday motels and raised their young family. Josie passed away in 2009.
Cruise was hale and hearty till near the end, recently celebrating his 99th birthday in fine fashion. His was a life shaped by commitment to family, to service, to adventure, to love and responsibility. He passed away peacefully with his daughters by his side.
He is survived by his daughters Ingrid and Kathryn, sons-in law Michael and Trevor, and grandchildren Bridget and husband Daniel, Sarah, Sebastian and Alex.
Stafford Henry “Paddy” Cruise: born August 12th, 1913; died September 12th, 2012.