4927881 Private George Frederick Aston was born on 3^rd October 1923, the son of Frederick Thomas Ewart Aston and Susannah Aston (née Brettle).

In 1939, George was living with his parents at 15 Beecher Street, Cradley, Staffordshire (now West Midlands) and his occupation was pattern maker

He enlisted with 173 Fld Regimenton 27^th December 1941 served with C Company of the 11^th Parachute Battalion and fought at the Battle of Arnhem during Operation Market Garden in September 1944.

After several days of fighting, on 26^th September 1944 George was taken prisoner of war and allocated Prisoner of War Number 92142.

He was held in three different camps: 26^th September 1944 to 26^th October 1944 at XIIA Limburg; 26^th October 1944 to 10^th November 1944 at IVB Mühlberg; and 10^th October 1944 to 9^th May 1945 at IVC Bystřice.

Whilst he was held in Stalag 4C he was forced to do mining work. Not only was he forced to work, but he was also witness to an horrendous incident. In his POW Post-Release Questionnaire he describes the incident:

"at 4C Stalag I saw a Russian shot at Aussig Station by a German Sentry, 573 Regt Wehrmacht"

After being released on 9^th May 1945, George returned to England and George was discharged from the army on 24^th January 1946 and returned home to Cradley.

At the time of the issue of his war medals, on 24^th May 1950, George's address was 15 Beecher Street, Cradley, Staffordshire; the same address he had lived at before the war.

The following year George married Elizabeth Grainger. The marriage is listed as having taken place in the Dudley registration district which covered a fairly large area, including the area he had been living with his parents in Cradley

George died on 4^th March 2004 in Carmarthen, Wales.

We are still researching the life of Private Aston. If you are a relative or have any information about him, please contact us.