Tributes have been paid to the youngest airman to take part in Operation Market Garden following his death, aged 98. Frank Ashleigh, from Kingsbury, who served in World War Two with the Glider Pilot Regiment, passed away on June 18 after a short stay in hospital.
Having passed the flying aptitude tests, he was posted to Salisbury Plain for six weeks’ intensive training and was accepted as a glider pilot. He learnt to fly in a That first night, they slept in the basement of a nearby café before making their way to Hotel Hartenstein where they began digging a slit trench. Always the first to volunteer, Frank then found himself leaving the safety of the trench on an assignment to find out where the German troops were.After spending four days picking off Germans, hidden from the enemy in a church tower with two other soldiers, Frank was captured.