83/Garvey Crew: Ashton, A Very Special Lancaster + Chas Bowyer letter + photograph

Object/Artifact

RAF Pathfinders Archive

Name/Title

83/Garvey Crew: Ashton, "A Very Special Lancaster" + Chas Bowyer letter + photograph

Entry/Object ID

2022.1.420

Description

Hugh Ashton, formerly gunner, 83 Squadron - booklet + Chaz Bowyer letter + photograh

Context

Lancaster R5868, which is now in the RAF Museum at Hendon, was flown many times by Ashton and the Garvey crew at the time the aircraft was assigned to 83 Squadron; it then had the identification letter Q-Queenie and squadron code OL. Q-Queenie had its last Pathfinder operation on 14 August 1943, by which time it had done 68 operations. It subsequently moved to 467 Squadron, RAAF, when it became S-Sugar, with a squadron code of PO, the identification codes which are used in the RAF Museum. This is Hugh Ashton's copy of an official booklet, printed late1975, or 1976, which details the history of the aircraft and how it came to be in the museum, painted with the codes it has. For an alternative view, which was clearly Ashton's, see Chaz Bowyer's letter to Ashton, written in 1972.

Collection

83 Squadron, PFF Aircraft and a/c info, YASH: HUGH ASHTON, DFC