Tragic York soldier James Ashdown gave up pilot dream for his family (From York Press)

Tragic York soldier James Ashdown gave up pilot dream for his family

9:00am Saturday 4th September 2010 in

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Updated: A SOLDIER from York killed in a crash which left his pregnant wife and baby daughter injured had sacrificed his dreams of becoming a pilot for his family.

Air Trooper James Richard Ashdown, aged 23, died in hospital three days after the Suzuki Swift he was driving was in a collision with a van on the A1 near Boroughbridge.

His wife Siobahn, who is three months pregnant with the couple’s second child, was injured in the crash, as was their seven-month-old daughter, Leilah, and Trooper Ashdown’s brother-in-law, Stephen, 32. A Portuguese man has since been arrested and has appeared in court in connection with the accident.

Trooper Ashdown, a former pupil of Wigginton Primary School, Easingwold School and York College, was a member of 9 Regiment Army Air Corps (9 AAC) and was based at Dishforth Airfield, near Thirsk. He was already a veteran of two operational tours to Afghanistan and had worked on Apache attack helicopters at Camp Bastion, having joined the army as a 17-year-old.

Grieving Siobahn, 21, said that despite setting himself the ambition of becoming a pilot at the age of six and becoming an air cadet during his school days, her husband, who she married only three months ago, put his family before his personal goals.

“He sacrificed the idea of becoming a pilot to become a dad,” she said.

“He was more proud of becoming a dad than anything else he had ever done. All he ever wanted was to be a dad and to be there for his family.”

Trooper Ashdown was a childhood friend of Haxby soldier Lance Bombardier Matthew Hatton, who was killed while serving in Afghanistan last year. He had transferred to 9 AAC in February and married Siobahn in June.

She described him as “a bit of a joker” who loved a challenge and had a will to win. She said: “He would always try hard to work his way through things, but he was a very happy and easy-going person who just enjoyed life and was very tolerant of other people.”

Pat Boyle, headteacher of Wigginton Primary School, who taught Trooper Ashdown, said: “I remember James and his family and this is very tragic news. The thing which stands out about him for me is that he always wanted to be in the armed forces and to become a pilot, even at a young age, and he was a good pupil to teach.”

Carey Chidwick, headteacher at Easingwold School, said: “I remember that his ambition was to join the armed forces, and when I heard he had joined the army, I thought that it would be the making of him. His death is a terrible waste of a young life.”

The driver of the Mercedes Benz Sprinter van which collided with Trooper Ashdown’s car, 32-year-old Joao Paulo Augusto Garcia, appeared before magistrates in Harrogate yesterday charged with dangerous driving and causing death by dangerous driving. He was remanded in custody and will appear at York Crown Court next Friday.