WW2 Lt. ROBERT A. CROZIER LOSES LIFE IN TUNASIA

REMEMBER THE FALLEN
............WW2 Lt. Robert A. Crozier Loses Life In Tunasia
....................BY BOB LESSARD
....................Historian Post 64 American Legion

.........MIDLEBORO GAZETTE, October 12, 2017:- Former Courtland Street resident, United States Army Second Lieutenant Robert A. Crozier, 24, lost his life in an accident on April 17, 1944, while serving with a radar unit of the Signal Corps at an air base in Tunisia, North Africa.

......It was reported in the June 2, 1944 edition of the Gazette that Lt. Crozier was “adjusting an antennae on a high pole and fell while ascending, suffering a fractured skull.” According to the news account, Lt. Crozier was in charge of radar equipment at the base. He was also in charge of the Base Exchange reported the Gazette.

......His parents, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Crozier former longtime residents of Courtland Street, were living in Springfield, when notified of his death by government officials. At the time, Frank Crozier was superintendent of the Springfield College Camp and Mrs. Crozier was in charge of drama at the Springfield Conservatory of Music, according to the Gazette article.
......Lt. Crozier attended Middleboro schools and was a graduate of the Class of 1937 of Memorial High School. Following graduation, he attended Northeastern University of Boston and received a degree in Electrical Engineering.

......He later received a commission in the Army Signal Corps and took a three month course in electronics at Harvard University. He was one of fifty chosen to attend a course in radar at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Upon completion of that study, he was assigned to Camp Murphy in Florida for Commando training. Lt. Crozier then attended an additional ten week advanced course in radar prior to his posting to the Tunisia air base.

......Lt. Crozier was buried with full military honors on April 19, 1944 at the air base in Tunisia with his company in attendance. It was later reported that Lt. Crozier was so well thought of by his men that in July they raised $1,000 in his memory. The money was sent to his parents to be used for a memorial scholarship in his name.

......In Middleboro, a brief memorial service was held in May 1944 at the Central Congressional Church for Lt. Crozier as part of Sunday church services officiated by the Reverend David Julius, according to the Gazette.

......Lt. Robert A. Crozier is remembered by a bridge on Route 495 over the railroad tracks dedicated to him on Veterans Day, November 12, 1962. He also is remembered with his name engraved in the WW2 section of the Central Casualty stone in Middleboro’s Veterans Memorial Park.