William Ashurst
Updated:
06 OCT 2021
Photo from Leif Gr. Thomsen
Photo: Mogens Jeppesen
Airman: a113110.htm Surname: Ashurst
Init: W Rank: Sgt
Service: RAF Sqdn: 625 P_link: p262.htm
Plane: LAN R5702
Operation: Bomb G Crash_site: Near Avne Crash_d: d150244
Buried_d: b250244
C_link: c113.htm At_Next: Aabenraa,
R 4-11
Natten til den 16. februar
1944 styrtede LAN R5702 omkring
her
ved Avne Vig.
Se p262MACR*Informationstavle 2014
*Avne 2014.
Sergeant (Pilot) William Ashurst, 21 år,
var søn af William og
Margaret Ashurst, Thornhill, Rotherham, Yorkshire,
United Kingdom.
(Kilde:
CWGC) Se foto fra
Aabenraa Kirkegaard 2009.
Leif Gr. Thomsen:
William Ashurst var den yngste af 5 drenge, der alle
var i RAF.
De tre overlevede krigen. Han omtales i
familien som en sorgløs, næsten uansvarlig knægt, som man ikke
rigtig kunne forestille sig skulle blive ansvarlig
skipper på en stor flyvemaskine. Harry
omtaler
sin skipper som en fin kammerat og leder for
en besætning, der
kom godt ud af det med hinanden. Fra
familien Campbell i Scotland
haves det samme
gode indtryk.
I 1945 blev der
her afsløret
mindesten for de 6 flyvere. Se
Informationstavle 2014 og fotos Avne 2014.
I
1949 sendte beboerne i Fjelstrup en kort erklæring og
varme hilsener til de efterladtes familier
og fik en
tak fra
Air Ministry - og meget varme takkebreve fra forældre til Sgt
H. R. Reardon, F/Sgt S. W.
Downes
og Sgt R. A. Campbell er bevaret.
Hvert år den 15. februar er der en mindesammenkomst ved mindestenene.
På
Fjelstrup Kro ses en mindevæg for
LAN R5702, der styrtede
3 km fra Fjelstrup.
I 2009 - 65 år efter styrtet - var der fra familien Campbell et tryk af maleriet
Lancaster at Rest til
mindevæggen, se avisartikel om
En gave i 2009. Flyverne mindes stadig!
6 flyvere fra
LAN R5702 er begravet i Aabenraa. 1 blev krigsfange.
7 flyvere.
On 15 February 1944
LAN R5702 crashed about
here
at Avne Vig.
Sergeant (Pilot) William Ashurst, 21, was
the son of William and Margaret Ashurst, of Thornhill,
Rotherham,
Yorkshire, United Kingdom. (Source: CWGC)
There's some corner of a foreign field that is for ever England See
photo from Aabenraa Cemetery 2009.
He
is remembered on
The Walls of Names at the
International Bomber Command Centre, Phase 1, Panel 3.
Leif Gr. Thomsen:
William Ashurst was the youngest of 5 boys, all of them in the RAF. 3 of
them survived the war. In the family he was mentioned as a carefree almost
irresponsible lad.
It was a bit difficult to imagine him becoming the
responsible skipper of a big bomber. Harry speaks of his skipper as a fine
friend and leader of a crew who got along
very well. The Campbells in Scotland
had the same good impression of him.
Memorial stones to the 6
airmen were unveiled
here in 1945. See Information board 2014 and photos
Avne 2014.
In 1949 the inhabitants of Fjelstrup sent
a brief statement and kind greetings to families of
the airmen and
received grateful thanks from the Air Ministry - and very warm letters from the
parents of Sgt
H. R. Reardon, F/Sgt S. W.
Downes and Sgt R. A. Campbell are preserved.
On 15 February every year there is a gathering at the memorial stones. There is
a memorial wall in Fjelstrup
Inn to
LAN R5702 which crashed 3 km from
Fjelstrup.
In 2009 - 65 years after the crash - the Campbells gave a print of the painting
Lancaster at Rest to Fjelstrup, see A present
in 2009. The airmen are still remembered!
6 airmen from
LAN R5702 are buried in Aabenraa. 1 became a Prisoner of
War - see German POW-Camps.
See No. 625
Squadron RAF - Wikipedia * Lancaster
*
Lancaster Photos * RAF
Kelstern in Lincolnshire
Lancaster I R5702 CF-Y took off from
RAF Kelstern at 1725 hours on 15 FEB 1944 (Source:
Aircrew Remembered has
this.)
See
p262MACR.
Earlier this Lancaster had 24 operations with
another pilot, see Roy O. Calvert - LAN R5702. 7 airmen.