“Mizpah” is a Hebrew word meaning “Watchtower”. Coming from the Book of Genesis, its modern usage denotes the emotional bond between two people separated by a great distance and can often be seen as part of a split coin or amulet, with one part kept by each person.
Edward Ashdown was a 19-year-old graduate of East York Collegiate who joined up mid-war and trained as a Flight Engineer in the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan.
Travelling along the established line in Britain that included Advanced Training, Operational Training Unit, Heavy Conversion and finally on to a combat squadron, he was a Flight Sergeant by the time his crew arrived at No. 424 (Tiger) Squadron, Skipton-on-Swale, in March of 1945.
Their appointment with history would come quickly.
As the war in Europe’s final weeks wound down, there were thousands of trained air crew in the pipeline who would never have the chance to fly in combat – something some would have been happy about, but many others quite disappointed.
While we don’t know which group the crew of J.W. “Pop” Watson (he was 33) fell into, they were certainly a Sprog crew on April 4, 1945, when Lancaster X, RF 140 (QB-W), took off at 1808 hours on a bombing trip to Merseburg, Germany. Watson had three trips, most of the rest just one under their belts.
Somewhere either over the target or coming home, the plane was hit, and some of the crew wounded. Nursing the aircraft back to England, the pilot chose to attempt an emergency landing on the grass training field at RAF Booker. The Lancaster hit a water tower, crashed into the ground and exploded. It was between 0220-0225.
If you visit the Brookwood Military Cemetery, near London, you can find Edward’s grave, next to those of his crewmates. The stone’s inscription, chosen by his parents, reads: Mizpah. So Well Remembered.
Per Ardua ad Astra, Edward, and your crewmates Pop, Joe Rochford, Curwood Armstrong, Stu Thomson, Stewart Robinson and Charlie Howse. The latter had just been commissioned an officer on April 4. All the other NCOs in the crew were posthumously commissioned after their death.
My book SPROG: A Novel of Bomber Command, tells the story of the young men who went to war in the air. Available at many Chapters/Indigo Stores, selected Waterstones shops in the UK, Amazon world-wide, most other online sites and here: www.sprogbook.com.
Thanks to the Aircrew Remembered website for their excellent work on this crew.