Austin Peat was born into a family long established in Ringinglow. His grandmother had lived there all her life and his grandfather had moved from Dore when they married.
Austen was born in 1923. His father was a bricklayer but supported his children’s education so that when Austin was successful in the 11+ test his parents allowed him to go to High Storrs. By 1939 Austin was a clerk at a railway depot. His elder sister was a shorthand typist.

We don’t know much about his service until just before the crash that killed him along with four other crew members.

By 1944 Austin was the navigator in a crew of five flying a Wellington bomber. In January, the crew took off on a training flight from RAF Desborough when the aircraft caught fire and crashed in Molesworth. All the crew which included a Canadian and an Australian were killed.

He was the navigator in a crew of five flying a wellington bomber. The crew had taken off on a training flight from RAF Desborough when the aircraft caught fire and crashed in Molesworth. All the crew which included a Canadian and an Australian were killed.

Austen Peat is buried in Fulwood Churchyard. He is commemorated on the Bomber Command memorial in Lincoln and the plaque at Fulwood Church.