Andrew Croft was the son of Canon Robert W Croft and his wife Lottie.
After finishing education in Oxford he worked in the cotton trade in Lancashire, leaving in 1929 to go to Europe to learn French and German. In Nov 1938 he passed his pilot's licence in Cambridge in a Gypsy Moth.
Andrew Croft was already a noted Polar explorer before the war. He was a member of Martin Lindsay's three-man Trans-Greenland Expedition in 1933-4 as a dog driver and photographer. 1080 miles were covered in 15 weeks, a record for a self-supporting journey. In 1934-5 he was in India as an aide to a young Maharajah. 1935-36 in Nordaustlandet, Norway he was second in command of Sandy Glen's Oxford University Arctic Expedition for which he was awarded Polar Medal with Arctic Clasp and later Back Award of Royal Geographical Society. The next three years were spent in Cambridge as a secretary to Louis Clarke where he found time to write his book Polar Exploration (1939).
He served in Finland with 5th Battalion Scots Guards, along with many of those later to serve in various Special Forces and SOE.
He was recruited to MI(R) and started the process of setting up a Resistance network in June 1940. He transferred to Auxiliary Units and set up initial Patrols across East Anglia, not initially being confined by county boundaries. Canon Croft was the rector of St Osyth, Essex when Andrew was a boy, but moved to Kelvedon in the early 1920's. Hence, Kelvedon Vicarage became the first HQ for Essex & Suffolk Auxiliary Units.
Croft was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) 13 March 1945. Medals awarded were; 1939 - 45 Star, 1939 - 45 War medal, Africa Star, Italy Star with 1st Army Clasp, France and Germany Star, Polar medal with Artic clasp.
He married Rosalind Madden, (nee De KentZow) widow of an Irish Guards officer 25 July 1952.
He was due to to be part of the 1953 Everest Expedition but stepped down. The expedition was the first to reach the summit. After leaving the Army he was the first Commandant of the Metropolitan Police's Hendon Police College and awarded an OBE for his work in 1970.
The couple are buried at Chiswick, London.
| Unit or location | Role | Posted from | until |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Vicarage, Kelvedon, Essex | Intelligence Officer | 02 Jul 1940 | 10 Dec 1940 |
| Norfolk | Intelligence Officer | 02 Jul 1940 | 24 Jul 1940 |
| Suffolk | Intelligence Officer | 02 Jul 1940 | 10 Dec 1940 |
| Essex | Intelligence Officer | 02 Jul 1940 | 10 Dec 1940 |
| Massingham Mission | SOE Agent | 1943 | 1943 |
| Massingham Mission | SOE Agent | 1943 | 1943 |
1920 - 1923 Lancing College, Sussex
1923 - 1925 Stowe School, Buckinghamshire
1925 - 1928 Christ Church College, Oxford
1928 - 1929 School of Technology, Manchester
Private Secretary (1938) Museum Secretary
Previous Military service, was working for Naval intelligence
16 Dec 1939 - Acting Captain.
19 Dec 1939 to 30 Jan 1940 - Dispatched to Finland, in charge of a small mission.
31 Jan to 22 Feb 1940 - Supervised the selection, and manufacture of artic equipment for the 2nd Battalion Scots Guards, UK.
23 Feb to 15 March 1940 - Dispatched to Finland, in charge of a second mission.
16 March 1940 - Temp Captain.
15 March to 22 April 1940 - Worked at the British Legation, Stockholm, Sweden, and was sent to Bergen, where he was a spectator of the German Invasion. He returned to UK in a Destroyer.
9 April to 22 April 1940 - Norway.
24 April to 8 June 1940 - Sent to Norway with North Western Expeditionary Force, as Chief IO to Independent Companies.
8 June to 1 July 1940 - Scotland.
20 to 30 June 1940 - Attended a refresher course in Explosives and Guerrilla warfare, Inverailort.
2 July to 10 Dec 1940 - OC Auxiliary Units for Essex and Suffolk, was responsible for training specially selected Patrols in fieldcraft, explosives and Anti tank dodges, Earls Colne.
11 Dec 1940 - Relinquishes Temp Captain. Liaison Officer to the Navy, attached to the Directorate of Combined Operations, Devonport. Appointed General Staff Officer 3, MO 9 (Liaison) (new appointment)
29 Dec 1940 - Employed on detached duty since 29 Dec 1940 with HQ at Devonport, where he has been accommodated in the Naval Barracks, proceeded to Scotland on Temp duty.
14 April 1941 - Relinquishes Temp Captain. Relinquishes appointment of General Staff Officer 3. Assumed duty as Liaison Officer (Captain) on the staff of the Director of Combined Operations.
30 July 1941 - From General List, to be War sub Lieutenant in Essex Regiment (Retaining present seniority).
11 July 1941 - (Designate) Selected for appointment AMA, Stockholm.
22 July 1941 - Acting Major.
22 Oct 1941 - Temp Major.
2 Dec 1942 - Left Stockholm.
3 Dec 1942 - Arrived UK. Relinquishes appointment as AMA, Stockholm, (General Staff Officer 2) and Temp Major. Posted to No 14 Commando (HQ Special Service Brigade). Dec 1942 – Mar 1943 Number 14 Arctic Commando, on missions to Norway, SOE Massingham Mission in Tunisia, then with SOE operating small boats from Corsica (Operation Balaclava), before being dropped into the south of France (Operation Snow White).
4 Dec 1942 - Reported War Office.
31 March 1943 - Posted to MO 1 (SP) in sub rank, struck of strength No 14 Commando, ceases to be paid from Army funds. Relinquishes Temp Major. To be specially employed (not paid from Army funds).
1 April 1943 - Posted to MO 1 (SP) special duties.
29 April 1943 - Proceeded overseas.
18 Sept 1944 - Arrived UK. Transferred from Major Mil Est 45, to be Major unestablished.
7 May to 14 June 1945 - Acting Lieutenant Colonel.
15 Aug 1945 - Struck of strength MO 1 (SP) and posted to No 1 Infantry holding Battalion, retains temp rank of Major. Ceases to be Specially employed, and is entitled to remuneration from Army Funds. Taken on strength, No 1 Infantry holding Battalion, from MO 1 (SP) temp rank to be retained until 14 Oct 1945, Colchester.
13 Sept 1945 - Struck of strength on proceeding to 3 Military Collection unit for release, Colchester
1 Nov 1945 - Acting Lieutenant Colonel
23 Nov 1945 - Temp Lieutenant Colonel
17 Dec 1945 - Date of release.
1945-46 He was assisting in Canada with Operation Musk Ox, testing arctic equipment for military use.
1949 He converted to a permanent commission from his wartime emergency one.
31 Dec 1951 - Lieutenant Colonel
1952-1954 He was Liaison Officer in the United States.
28 March 1957 – Temp Colonel
23 June 1960 - Regular Army Reserve of Officers, Lieutenant Colonel
7 Feb 1962 - Exceeded age limit of liability for recall, and ceases to belong to Regular Army Reserve of Officers.
Subsequently he commanded the Boys Battalion at Plymouth and the Army Apprentices School at Harrogate.
Post war home; The River House, 52 Strand on the Green, London W4
