Strangers flock to honour flying ace
THE kindness of strangers yesterday ensured a fitting farewell to a wartime flying ace with no surviving relatives.
Flight Sergeant Jim Auton MBE, took part in one of the most daring RAF operations of the Second World War, risking his life to carry out low-level drops of supplies during the 1944 Warsaw Uprising.
The 63-day revolt against Nazi occupation in the Polish capital cost the lives of 18,000 resistance fighters and 180,000 civilians before it was crushed.
Mr Auton was thought to be the last surviving British member of the Warsaw Air Bridge – the allied mission to keep besieged rebels equipped with arms, medicine and food.
He was awarded 20 medals for bravery and valour, making him one of Britain’s most-decorated servicemen of the war.
But when he died last month aged 95, there were fears no one would attend his funeral.
Mr Auton’s wife of 68 years, Peggy, died in 2016 and the couple had no children.
The RAF Association charity stepped in to arrange the service and, along with Mr Auton’s friend and devoted carer, Paul Trickett, appealed for people to attend.
And their heartfelt request was answered as over 400 mourners turned up to say goodbye to the bearers from RAF Associations formed a guard of honour.
Outside, mourners told how they felt they needed to attend. Ron Warden, 84, who served in the Royal Military Police, drove for an hour from his home in
Rutland after hearing a plea on the news. “I would have hated it if he’d been buried alone.”
Artur Bildziuk, chairman of the Polish Airmen’s Association UK, said: “A group of us have come up from London. Jim was
The RAF and strangers turned out for brave Jim, below and above regarded so highly by the whole Polish community.”
Flt Lt Ben Northwood, from nearby RAF Waddington, said: “He was an unsung hero. It was great to be able to come here and honour him.”