AN AUTHOR and ex-detective from Redditch has put pen to paper to honour the men who made the ultimate sacrifice in the Second World War.
Tony Aston grew up in the town and attended Redditch County High School – now Trinity High School – in the mid to late 1960s.
Just inside the original school building’s main entrance, a Second World War Roll of Honour memorial hangs on the wall, with the names of 21 former pupils who fought in the conflict engraved into it.
Tony is researching the lives of the soldiers, their history pre-war, how they served, how and where they fought and how they died.
Tony wants them to be remembered as ‘the heroes they are’ and commemorated for being part of the Allied forces that ensured the freedom we all enjoy today.
He said: “I must have passed that board thousands of times during my time at the school without, I am ashamed to say, taking any notice other than a cursory glance.
“Sadly, I suspect that might still be the case today.”
Information collated from a number of sources has provided Tony with building blocks upon which he plans to develop and write each individual’s story.
He added: “I have already managed to contact a few relatives but I’m keen to trace any relatives and descendants who may be able to provide additional information, photographs, military records or memorabilia.”
In the book ‘The Last School Bell’, Tony is also planning to include a chapter about the headmaster who was in post at the time, Col Albert Edward Scothern, a commissioned lieutenant colonel in the First World War, Olympic athlete and England international footballer.
Tony has previously published his childhood memoir, ‘Redditch – From the Chip Shop to the Batchley’, followed by a true story, ‘The Bomber and the Weathervane’, a tapestry of wartime valour, unyielding passion and the haunting legacy of a downed Second World War Lancaster bomber.
His third book was the lifetime memoir of his father, Eddie Aston, ‘This Is How It Was’, to which both Tony and his sister-in-law, Pauline Aston, contributed additional material and editing.
Tony is appealing for information from descendants of those listed on the memorial.
Email [email protected] to get in touch with Tony.
