Do you know this Second World War hero? Hunt for relatives for plaque unveiling
RELATIVES of a Second World War hero are being sought in the hope they can attend the unveiling of a plaque in his honour at the site where he was killed.
The memorial to Flight Lieutenant Alfred Edward David Ashcroft will be unveiled in a church in the village of Linter in Belgium to mark the 70th anniver sary of VE Day on May 10.
The 24-year-old navigator and wireless operator was killed alongside Australian pilot William Vale, 27, when their Mosquito plane came down on the church on October 6, 1944.
They had been returning to RAF Swannington in Norfolk after a raid on Bremen and Dortmund in Germany.
Civic leaders in Linter, formerly known as Drieslinter, would like to invite relatives of the air men to attend the unveiling. The pilot is also named on the plaque.
They have found Mr Vale’s family but not Mr Aschroft’s. A search by British charity SSAFA, formerly known as Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association, was also unsuccessful.
Wing Commander David Bramley said: “We found nothing on his family.” There is not even a photo of him on file, despite him being awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1944.
He joined the RAF in 1939 as an air gunner with 141 Squadron before he retrained with 29 Squadron in West Malling, Kent. His parents, Alfred and Edith Maud Ashcroft, lived in Cobham, Surrey.
His mother moved to Rochford, Essex, in 1948. She died in 1970. If you have any details go to ssafa.org.uk/alfred or telephone 020 7463 9258.
