About Michael Cross
Michael Cross, 80, British Royal Air Force officer.
Explore other notable deaths in 2022 or deaths in November 2022.
The Deaths Archive presents
How well do you know Michael Cross?
Explore their life. Test your knowledge. Beat the challenge.
10 questions · One legacy · How much do you really know?
Challenge your friends
Play together in real-time.
Advertisement
60 Seconds Life Story
Group Captain William Michael Cross led a life defined by distinguished service and extraordinary physical
Michael Cross
d. 2022
60 Seconds: Michael Cross's Life Story
A documentary short on the life and achievements of British Royal Air Force officer Michael Cross.
Transcript
Group Captain William Michael Cross led a life defined by distinguished service and extraordinary physical endurance. Serving as a British Royal Air Force officer, Cross eventually took on the role of Chief of Staff for the Air Cadet Organisation. His professional career concluded with his retirement from that post in 2006. In 2003, at the age of sixty, he achieved a remarkable milestone by traveling to the South Pole. Alongside his son William, he became the first diabetes sufferer and the first father and son team to complete this challenging trek. This historic journey solidified his reputation as a man of great resolve. Michael Cross passed away on November 9, 2022, at the age of eighty, leaving behind a legacy of service and adventure.
Play the illustrated life story above, or read the full biography on this page.
Visual credits: wellcomeimages.org (CC BY 4.0) · Own work (CC BY-SA 3.0) · From geograph.org.uk (CC BY-SA 2.0) · Keith Vanderlinde winter 2008 South Pole (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Army Guard Father, Son Fly Together (Public domain) · wellcomeimages.org (CC BY 4.0)
An illustrated presentation assembled inside the archive from the approved script and the credited images: narration, scene transitions and captions. Caption timing is estimated from the narration.
Narrated illustration. Images are sourced and credited; they are not presented as authenticated photographs.
Full Biography
|Group Captain William Michael Cross OBE (1942 – 9 November 2022) was a British Royal Air Force officer who was Chief of Staff of the Air Cadet Organisation. He retired from the post in 2006.
Trek to the South Pole
On 17 January 2003 Mike Cross, aged 60, became the eldest person to travel to the South Pole and, along with his son William Cross, became the first diabetes sufferer to reach the South Pole. Michael and his son William are also the first father and son team to make the journey.
Personal life and death
Cross died on 9 November 2022, at the age of 80.
Content from Wikipedia — licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
Interactive
Test Your Knowledge – Trivia Challenge
How well do you know this person's life and legacy?
No account needed to play. Sign in to keep your score on the leaderboard.
Books & Media
Find books, audiobooks and films about Michael Cross on Amazon.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.
Sources
- Wikipedia
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Cross_(RAF_officer)
- CC BY-SA 4.0
- Sep 26, 2026
- View article
- Sep 26, 2026
People who died on November 9
Spotted an error?
Help us keep the archive accurate. Report a correction with a source.
Report an error for Michael Cross →Advertisement