Henry Francis Cronin CBE, MC, BSc was a British civil engineer and army officer.
18 Facts About Henry Cronin
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Henry Cronin served in the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers and the Royal Engineers during the First World War and was awarded the Military Cross for constructing defensive works and taking part in assaults under heavy fire.
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Henry Francis Cronin was born in Ketton, Rutland in 1894.
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Henry Cronin studied engineering and was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree.
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Henry Cronin transferred in the same rank to the Royal Engineers on 19 May 1917.
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Whilst serving with the Royal Engineers, Henry Cronin was awarded the Military Cross in 1918 for gallantry in battle at an unspecified location.
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Henry Cronin was ordered to follow behind an attacking infantry unit with a section of sappers and to assist with the construction of strongpoints to make the position more defendable.
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Henry Cronin reached the front with his men and immediately began the construction of field defences despite being under extremely heavy enemy fire from a flank.
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Henry Cronin's actions were said, in his medal citation, to have "very greatly helped" the success of the attack.
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Henry Cronin was appointed Chief Engineer of the Metropolitan Water Board in 1939 and remained in that post throughout the war.
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Henry Cronin resumed his association with the military on 29 October 1943 when he was appointed lieutenant colonel of the Engineer and Railway Staff Corps, an unpaid Territorial Army unit which provided technical expertise to the British Army.
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In 1942 and 1945 Henry Cronin served as president of the Institution of Water Engineers.
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Henry Cronin was a member of the American Water Works Association from 1944 and in 1956 was awarded honorary membership in recognition for his devotion to duty during the London Blitz.
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Henry Cronin was promoted to colonel in the Engineer and Railway Staff Corps on 6 September 1950.
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Henry Cronin retired from the corps on 25 February 1957, receiving permission to retain the use of his rank.
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Henry Cronin was elected president of the Institution of Civil Engineers in May 1952 for the November 1952 to November 1953 session.
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Henry Cronin addressed the American Society of Civil Engineers in 1953 and in 1954 was appointed a fellow of Imperial College London.
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Henry Cronin retired from the Metropolitan Water Board in 1959 and died in 1977.