William's Story.
William Auld was born to parents William and Elenor Auld of Transvaal, South Africa in 1910. He volunteered for service with the RAF after the start of the war and trained as a navigator. He joined 51 Squadron Bomber Command flying Halifax bombers and completed a tour of 30 missions following which he was awarded the DFC and was assigned to a flying school in Canada as a navigator instructor. In 1944 he returned to 51 squadron in UK to continue operational flying. On 21st August 1944 he was detached and sent to RAF Shawbury for advanced navigation training. He flew in Wellington bomber HZ 699 on a night navigation exercise with three other crew members and the plane crashed into Tower Hill near Llangollen in the early hours of 22nd August with the death of three of the four crew members including William. The pilot Jack Firth was the only survivor of the crash and was lucky to survive as he was rescued by a group of schoolboys who happened to be camping near the crash site at the time.William Auld was buried at Blacon Cemetery Chester.
