Morton R. Ashton.

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.