Ashbaugh, Fred: my armed forces experiences (November 9, 2009)
ABSTRACT: Flight Lieutenant Fred Ashbaugh Fred Ashbaugh was born and raised in a rural community outside of Edmonton, Alberta. As a child he was athletic, and enjoyed bike racing, lacrosse, soccer, and hockey. In 1940 he enlisted with the ambition of doing his part in the war against Germany. He joined the air force perusing childhood fascinations with flight. Upon enlisting, Ashbaugh was sent to manning pool in Toronto; guard duty in St. Johns, New Brunswick; Initial Training School at the Eglinton Hunt Club, again in Toronto; Elementary Flying School in Cap-de-la-Madeleine in Quebec; and finally Service Flying School in Summerside, Prince Edward Island. Ashbaugh describes each stage of his training in detail, including: daily routines, food, living conditions, types of aircraft, first solo flight, testing, etc. Upon graduating, Ashbaugh was deployed for overseas combat as a pilot. His journey was aboard the HMS Derbyshire, and included a stopover in Iceland. Ashbaugh describes the journey in great detail, and the British occupation of Iceland after a brief German occupation. Upon arriving in Britain went to an Operational Training Unit at Lossiemouth before being assigned to a crew and ultimately serving two tours of duty in Bomber Command—one bombing Germany, the other in the Middle East bombing Italy and Yugoslavia. In depth discussion on typical bombing missions, aircraft, training, and the RAF command structure.
Interviewer: Rosberg, Tyson
Interviewee: Ashbaugh, Fred
Rank: Flight Lieutenant.
An interview/narrative of Fred Ashbaugh's experiences during World War II. Interview took place on November 9, 2009.
- In Collection:
- Training planes--Canada
- Cornell (Training plane)
- British Commonwealth Air Training Plan
- Iceland--History--1918-1945
- Biplanes
- Canada--Royal Canadian Air Force
- Great Britain--Royal Air Force
- Canada--RCAF Station (Toronto,Ont.)--Initial Training School, 1
- RAF Lossiemouth (Scotland)--Operational Training Unit, 20
- Fairchild aircraft
- World War, 1939-1945--Aerial operations, British
- Derbyshire (Armed Merchant Cruiser)
- Night and all-weather operations (Military aeronautics)
- Avro Anson (Training plane)
- World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Canadian
- World War, 1939-1945--Iceland
- Canada--RCAF Station (Toronto, Ont.)--Manning Depot, 1
- T-6 (Training plane)
- Ashbaugh, Frederick (Fred), 1919- --Interviews
- Great Britain--Royal Air Force--Bomber Command
- Dubrovnik (Croatia)--History--Bombardment, 1944
- Canada--RCAF Station (Summerside,PEI)--Service Flying Training School, 9
- Fleet Finch (Biplane)
- Canada--RCAF Station (Cap de la Madelaine, Que.)--Elementary Flying Training School, 11
- Foggia Plain (Italy : Airfield)
- Wellington (Bomber)
- Night fighter planes
- World War, 1939-1945--Aerial operations, Canadian
- 1 sound recording (MP3)
- 44, 19.75
- 60.10867, -113.64258
- 54.75844, -2.69531
- Original sound recording (WMA) also available.
- Canadian Military Oral History Collection
- AF_609
- Special Collections Finding Aid: https://uvic2.coppul.archivematica.org/military-oral-history-collection
- February 1, 2007
- Digital sound recording in .mp3 format at 192 kbps and 44 kHz. Recorded in digital format by interviewer, technical and cataloguing metadata provided by JF and JP. Interview recorded in digital format for UVic Special Collections in 2007. Migration metadata by KD and MT.
- Rights
- This interview has been posted with the understanding that it may be used for research purposes only. Should the interviewee or their heirs have any objections to this interview being accessible on the Internet, it will be removed promptly. Contact UVic Special Collections for permission if using for other than research purposes: speccoll@uvic.ca
- DOI
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