Heslop's Local Advertiser 19/4/1947
Photo from Imperial War Museum (IWM), FL-9971
Born 10th May 1925 at Felling, Co. Durham Son of Joseph and Margaret Askew, of Felling, Co. Durham.
In the afternoon of the 20th March 1945, U Boat U-968 commanded by Oberleutnant zur See Otto Westphalen, attacked convoy JW-65 and reported a destroyer and a Liberty ship sunk and another Liberty ship torpedoed. In fact, the sloop HMS Lapwing (U 62) (Cdr J.A. Binnie, Rtd, RN) of the 7th Escort Group and the Liberty ship Thomas Donaldson were sunk. The survivors of the sloop were rescued by HMS Savage (G 20) (LtCdr C.W. Malins, DSO, DSC, RN).
At 10.14 hours on the 20th March 1945, U-716 (Thimme) had attacked the same convoy and reported a Groznyj class destroyer sunk, but the U-boat probably missed HMS Lapwing (U 62).
Heslop's Local Advertiser 19/04/1947 carries an "In Memoriam" notice:
"Askew (Felling), Alan, lost at sea, H.M.S. Lapwing, March 20th, 1945.
Alan Askew is listed in our Ship's crew list.
