Sergeant Derek Kilgour ASHTON (1396278)
166 Squardon Royal Air Force

Date of birth: 23rd March 1915
Date of death: 27th January 1944

Killed in action aged 28
Buried at Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery Collective Grave 2 D 5-9
Derek Kilgour Ashton was born at Lima in Peru on the 23rd of March 1915 the son of Reginald Ashton, of the Peruvian Oil Corporation, and Grace Ethel (nee Simpson) Ashton of Lima.

He was educated at Lancing College where he was in Sandersons House from January 1929 to July 1932. He was a member of the Cross Country Running Team in 1931 and 1932 and achieved his School Certificate in 1932. He was member of House Swimming Team in 1932.

On leaving school he returned to Peru from Liverpool on board the SS La Paz on the 12th of August 1933. On his arrival there he worked as a clerk. During the war he returned from Peru to enlist, landing at Liverpool on the 31st of August 1941 on board the SS Losada.

On the night of the 27th of January 1944 Bomber Command despatched 515 Lancasters and 15 Mosquitos for an operation to Berlin. The target was covered by cloud and sky marking was used to mark the target for the main bomber stream. Damage was hard to assess but local reports said that bombing took place over a large area of the city with damage to around 50 industrial premises.

Derek Ashton and his crew took off from RAF Kirmington at 5.55pm on the 27th of January 1944 in Lancaster Mk1 W4996 AS-R for the raid. The aircraft failed to return and its fate is unknown.

The crew was:-

Flying Officer Richard Edward Hicks (Pilot)
Sergeant Joseph William Swann (Flight Engineer)
Flying Officer Aubrey Edgar Cook (Navigator)
Sergeant Derek Kilgour Ashton (Air Bomber)
Sergeant James Thomas Ravenscroft (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
Sergeant Anthony Joe Holdom (Mid Upper Gunner)
Sergeant Harold Barnard Bell (Rear Gunner)

Theirs was one of thirty-three Lancasters lost that night.

His brother, Pilot Officer Thomas Reginald Aston, 408 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force, was killed in action on the 22nd of July 1942.

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