William Ashby was born in London to Joseph Henry and Emily Louisa Ashby and he grew up living in the Peabody Buildings, Westminster, with four brothers and three sisters. He worked as Assistant Manager in the Gaumont British Cinema until 1933. He married Emily Dodson on 6th February 1937.
He was Scout Section Officer in East Sussex, before joining the Yorkshire and Lancashire Regiment and serving in the Normandy Campaign. There he was injured in the spine by a sniper's bullet, paralysing him.
Stoke Mandeville became home for four years. During those years Major Ashby was active and began to encourage participation in sports like archery. He was also on various committees. One began to look at obtaining transport and eventually a London bus was cut down and modified with a ramp at rear so that wheelchairs could be carried.
In 1949 Major Ashby was at last discharged to live with his wife and son in a specially adapted apartment on the Haig Homes Estate at Morden. He had four years of living with his family before developing kidney failure.
He was taken to Roehampton Hospital where he died on 22 April 1953
| Unit or location | Role | Posted from | until |
|---|---|---|---|
| East Sussex Scout Section | Scout Section Commander | 10 Nov 1940 | 20 Apr 1943 |
Westminster School
3 Mar 1933
Enlisted into the East Lancashire Regiment No.3385034
29 Mar 1934
Appointed Lance Corporal Posted to 1st Battalion
20 Dec 1934
Posted overseas to Saar Plebiscite with ‘D’ Company. Returned Feb 1935
9 Jan 1936
Posted to Egypt. A keen sportsman he was Middle East Boxing Champion
2 Jan 1937
Returned to England. Promoted to Corporal – Lance Sergeant
Jan-Mar 38
Attended course at Hythe Small Arms School
1938-39
Northern Ireland – on leave in London and on 23 August received a telegram:
“REJOIN UNIT IMMEDIATELY = FIRST BATTALION”
20 Oct 1939
Posted to Officer Cadet Training Unit, Bulford. Officer Training
17 Feb 1940
Commissioned as Second Lieutenant, Queens Royal Regiment
18 Feb 1940
Promoted War Substantive Lieutenant with the Infantry Training Company
9 Nov 1940
Posted to GHQ Auxiliary Units, Coleshill
10 Nov 1940
Appointed Scout Section Officer, East Sussex Scout Section
20 Apr 1943
Posted to 13 Holding Battalion. While there he met Lieutenant Colonel Trevor Hart Dyke who was about to take command of the Hallamshire Battalion of the Yorkshire and Lancashire Regiment and was looking for an Adjutant and offered him the post.
6 Nov 1943
Appointed Acting Captain and posted to the Hallams as Adjutant. Their task was to prepare the battalion to become an assault battalion ready for D-Day.
6 Feb 1944
Promoted Temporary Captain
9 Jun 1944
Battalion moved from East Anglia and embarked for Normandy as part of 49 Infantry Division. Landing on Gold Beach on D+4 the Hallams moved forward to come into contact with the crack 12 SS Panzer Division. Operation ‘Martlet' was launched aimed at pushing inland towards Rauray. Bitter fighting followed.
19 Jun 1944
Relinquished appointment as Adjutant and took over Command of a Company.
25 Jun 1944
Appointed Acting Major – the Hallams capture Fontenay le Pesnel and prepare to move on.
27 Jun 1944
The Battalion had reached Tessel Wood and dug in awaiting a counter attack.
28 Jun 1944
The Battalion Commander called his officers together for a briefing. As the group broke up a sniper opened up and Major Ashby was wounded with a bullet hitting his spine.
Having been evacuated back to the UK it was quickly explained that the snipers bullet remained lodged in his spine and the loss of movement and feeling was permanent.
The first two hospitals were not use to treating paraplegics and permitted sitting for too long which resulted in horrendous bed sores. The third hospital was Stoke Mandeville which was in a different league altogether. The wards were full of young fit servicemen who had lost the use of their legs. Frustrating and challenging to them all but as patients together they took those frustrations out on the poor nurses who were teased and became the butt of many jokes.
24 Jun 1945
Relinquished his commission on account of his disability.
Bill Ashby, his son is CART's Coleshill specialist
William Ashby's Service Record