James Cross

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For the American politician, see James B. Cross.

James Richard Cross, CMG (born September 29, 1921 in Ireland) was a British diplomat in Canada who was kidnapped by the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) terrorist group during the October Crisis of October 1970.

Known by his friends as "Jasper", during World War II, Cross served with the British Army and fought for the liberation of France. In 1946 he was commissioned into the Royal Engineers Movement Control Section. After the war he joined the diplomatic service and eventually served as a Trade Commissioner in India, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Kuala Lumpur, before becoming senior Trade Commissioner in Montreal, Quebec.

On October 5, 1970, Cross was abducted at gunpoint from his British diplomatic residence on Redpath Crescent, on Mount Royal in Montreal and held as a hostage for two months as the FLQ made a series of demands to the Quebec government. He was released on December 3 in exchange for safe passage for his abductors to Cuba. Six members of the FLQ's liberation cell were later convicted of Cross's kidnapping when they returned to Canada over time.

Cross went on to serve as Under-Secretary in various divisions of the British Department of Trade and Industry and Department of Energy. In 1971, he was made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG). His statements regarding the FLQ Crisis can be found at: http://www.chu.cam.ac.uk/archives/collections/BDOHP/Cross.pdf