Eldest son of Arthur and Emily Ashton.
1901 Census aged 3 living at 22 Montfort Road, Strood with his parents and 3 sisters. His father is a bricklayer.
1911 Census aged 13 at 3 Moore Street, Strood with his parents and has gained a younger brother.
Military Career
Private 11th Battalion Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent) Regiment. Service No G/10240
Medical taken on 9th October 1915 Height 5 feet 4 inches. Weight 106lbs. Chest 34 inches
Enlisted in Chatham 18 October 1915, lying about his age, giving it as 19 years 4 months. Trade – Clerk
Embarked Southampton 2 May 2015, landing at Le Havre the following day.
19 August 1916 Applied Paid Lance Corporal
19 September 1916 Wounded in Action. Compound Fracture Humerus
To England H.S. ? ex 1 Can G.H. Etaples
Died of wounds 22 September 1916 in Military Hospital Newcastle. Family were notified by telegram the following day.
Buried in Strood Cemetery (C432). He is not listed by the CWGC, Kent Fallen or on Every Man Remembered website
His mother acknowledged receipt of his effects by handwritten note on February 12th 1917
His father acknowledged receipt of his Memorial Scroll from the regiment in February 1920
His mother acknowledged receipt of his medals 21 September 1921
His effects totalled £3 4s 2d. and were left to his mother.
The diary pages the day he was wounded aren’t in the War Diary for the Battalion but the 122nd Infantry Brigade were moved en masse by train to Oisemont on 16th September. This was during the Battle of Flers Courcelette on the Somme in which the tank made its first appearance. The battalion took very heavy casualties in this period.
Ancestry.com sources
Military-Genealogy.com, comp. UK, Soldiers Died in the Great War, 1914-1919 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008
England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966, 1973-1995 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
National Army Museum; Chelsea, London, England; Soldiers’ Effects Records, 1901-60; NAM Accession Number: 1991-02-333; Record Number Ranges: 814001-815500; Reference: 494
First World War and Army of Occupation War Diaries; Class: WO 95; Item: 4 Piece 2634/4: 11 Battalion Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment) (1916 May – 1917 Oct)
Findmypast sources
1901 Census RG13 Piece 721 Folio 48 Page 25
1911 Census RG14PN3869 RG78PN147 RD45 SD2 ED14 SN235
WO 363 – First World War service records ‘burnt documents’
Other Sources
http://www.kentfallen.com/west%20kent%20pages.html
http://www.janetandrichardsgenealogy.co.uk/Pte%20W%20A%20Ashton.html
Biography compiled by Sean Ryan