Simon Glancey has submitted the following:
Sgt. Askwith was killed when Handley Page Halifax II JD305 EY-C of 78 Squadron was lost on a mission to Berlin. The Halifax was severely damaged by Luftwaffe night fighters, and ditched in the North Sea attempting to return to the UK. Four of the seven crew had survived the ditching, but during the sixteen hours they were in the water, one drowned, and of the three finally rescued, two died of their injuries.
Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War: 1943;W.R. Chorley; 1996; Midland Counties Publications; ISBN 0 904597 90 3, page 282
Acknowledgments: Tony Hibberd
Robert Askwith is remembered in Bishop Auckland on B140.12
