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Funeral for World War Two Hero

Thursday, 6 February 2020 10:05

Jim Auton. Credit: RAF Association

The funeral of a World War Two veteran who helped an uprising against Nazi occupation will take place later today.

Jim Auton MBE, who was a former RAF bomb aimer, died in January aged 95 with no surviving relatives.

He is thought to have been the last British member of the Warsaw Air Bridge, which saw supplies dropped to Polish resistance fighters.

Jim flew 37 missions with 178 Squadron, including dropping vital weapons to Britain's Polish allies during the 1944 Warsaw Uprising, before he was injured at the age of 20, losing the sight in his right eye.

As he had no known family, the service has been organised by the RAF Association in Newark, Nottinghamshire.

Mr Auton's funeral will take place at Newark Parish Church at 1pm today and he will be buried in Newark Cemetery, close to the Warsaw Air Bridge Memorial, which he campaigned for and helped to plan in 1989.

After the war, he was awarded 20 medals by six different countries, including the Polish Presidential Gold Order of Merit and the Soviet Union War Veterans' Medal, and was made an MBE in 2000.

Photo: RAF veteran Jim Auton MBE, during his war years. Credit: RAF Association.

The RAF Association and senior RAF officers have arranged for the Queen's Colour Squadron to carry Jim's coffin in St Mary Magdalene Church in Newark. Personnel from RAF College Cranwell, RAF Waddington, and RAF Scampton will also attend the service.

A flypast from RAF Waddington will also be taking place.

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