WILLIAM ASH

Born in Dallas, Texas, Mr. Ash was from a lower middle-class family and spent much of his late teens and early adulthood as a migrant worker though he did earn extra money writing papers for college students. In 1939, at the age of 21, he moved to Canada where he trained as a pilot with the Canadian Air Force and eventually was sent to England during WWII to fly fighters. He was shot down by the Germans and made a POW but he would earn an MBE for the work he did in organizing escapes. He worked for a while after the War as a script editor for the BBC. His politics, starting out as apolitical before becoming harshly anti-Fascism turned to Communism though he was at odds with the established Communist Party in Britain and help start his own splinter group.