Morton R. Ashton.
Navigator · Of Laconia, Indiana.
The Man Behind the Name
Captain Morton R. Ashton served as navigator on B-24J 42-100294 on the 24 June 1944 mission to Dreux Airdrome, France.
Ashton bailed out when the aircraft exploded in midair at approximately 21,000 feet. He was captured and held as a POW at Stalag Luft 3, Germany (EX-PW #7175). He returned to U.S. military control and later completed a casualty questionnaire describing the mission.
While a prisoner, Ashton reported intelligence about a Major Back who died of pneumonia at Buchenwald Concentration Camp around 1 November 1944, and a Lt. Miller from Cleveland, Ohio, who was held in Gestapo prison at Wiesbaden, Germany on 11 August 1944. His next of kin was his wife in Laconia, Indiana.
Service record.
Missions flown.
The missions below are those we have been able to document for this airman, drawn from flight logs, mission records, and archival sources. It is not necessarily a complete account of every mission flown; gaps may reflect missing documentation, transferred assignments, or records lost to time.