17 The Royal Canadian Legion MANITOBA & NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO COMMAND www.mbnwo.ca ASHCROFT (nee HINCE), Eunice M. WWII Eunice was born in Shucknall-Hill, Yarkhill in Herefordshire, England in 1923. She enlisted in the Merchant Navy and served in the Women’s Army Corps and the Auxiliary Territorial Service in Seaford, England during World War II. Eunice was a member of Manitoba’s Birtle Legion Branch 55 for nineteen years. She died in 2007. ASKEW, George William WWII George was born in Cartwright, Manitoba on March 25, 1921 and grew up on the family farm. He worked as a service man in his uncle’s garage prior to enlisting with the Royal Canadian Air Force in Winnipeg on October 4, 1941. While serving in England, George was with No. 419 Squadron and took part in seven raids over a period of six weeks before being shot down over Essen, Germany on July 26, 1943. He is buried in Germany’s Reichswald Forest War Cemetery at Grave 2&3, Plot 6, Row D. George and his brother John were killed six months apart. While on leave touring England, George and John wished they remembered more of their British history. The Askew Scholarship for British History was established in 1948 for Cartwright School students in memory of George Askew and his brother John. Askew Lake, NE of North Knife Lake, was named after him in 1974. ATKINS, Gordon M. WWII Gordon was born in 1921. He joined the Royal Canadian Air Force and served in Yorkshire, England as a navigator with Squadron 432 from 1942-45. He was a member of Portage la Prairie Legion Branch 65, as well as Glenboro Legion Branch 71. Gordon passed away in 2000. ASKEW, John Ruskin WWII John was born to Ruskin and Josephine Askew in Cartwright, Manitoba on May 22, 1919. He worked on the family farm with his father and joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in Winnipeg on October 10, 1941. He trained in Brandon, Saskatoon, Paulson and Trenton, and graduated from Mountain View School as Flight Sergeant Gunner. From August 18, 1942, John served overseas as a Flight Sergeant in the Conversion Unit of the Royal Canadian Air Force and was killed in a plane crash over England on January 29, 1943. John is buried in Yorkshire in Ripon Cemetery, Section H, Grave 406. While on leave touring England, John and his brother George wished they’d remembered more of their British history. In 1948, a scholarship for British History was established, named in memory of John and George. It was later changed in 1983 to History and Canadian Studies, as British History was no longer being taught. Askew Island in Webbe Lake was also named after John in 1995.
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