Date of birth:

September 12th, 1919

Date of death:

March 2003 (Ipswich/Suffolk, Great Britain)

Nationality:

British

Frederick Aston was commissiones in the Royal Regiment of Artillery - Territorial Army in June 1939.
In 1942 he transferred to the Glider Pilot Regiment, Army Air Corps. He took part in Operation Overlord by landing with a General Aircraft Hamilcar, loaded with a Tetrarch tank on June 6th, 1944 near Ranville. During Market Garden he landed in September 1944 near Arnhem and had to swim across the Lower Rhine river to avoid being captured. During Operation Vasity he landed with a Hamilcar, loaded with a tractor and 17 pdr anti-tank gun.

In 1949 he joined the RAF on a short service commission which was made a permananent one in 1952. He left the service in 1958.

Promotions:
- Army
June 7th, 1939: 2nd Lieutenant:
January 1st, 1941: Lieutenant (war sub)
1944: Captain (temp)
July 18th, 1949: Captain (war sub)
February 2nd, 1946: Major (temp)

- RAF
July 18th, 1949: Flight Lieutenant
July 1st, 1953: Squadron Leader
March 29th, 1958: Retirement

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Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Temporary Captain

Unit:

No. 1 Wing, Glider Pilot Regiment, Divisional Troops, 6th Airborne Division, British Army

Awarded on:

August 16th, 1945

"On March 24th 1945 during the airborne assault on the RHINE North of WESEL this officer flew a Namilcar glider with an important load. After a flight of 3 hours his glider was subjected to heavy enemy A/A fire and a thick smoke screen covered the area in which he was to land. Undeterred by these conditions he landed his glider in the correct area without damage to the load or the glider itself. This officer was also in command of a Flight of Hamilcars during operations NEPTUNE and MARKET. On all occasions he has shown exceptional skill in the air and by his coolness, courage and determination has proved a fine example to the men under his command."

Rank:

Flight Lieutenant

Awarded on:

April 1950

With clasp

• - Supplement to The London Gazette Issue 37223 published on the 14 August 1945
  - Unithistories
  - Recommendation for Award for Aston, Frederick Cuthbert Rank: Lieutenant ... | The National Archives