The Queens Own Royal West Kent R

The Queens Own Royal West Kent Regiment

Private P T Ashdown

Photograph by "Len"

Private Percy Thomas ASHDOWN, G/19620, 6th Battalion, Queens Own Royal West Kent Regiment, (formerly 48138, 1st Reserve Garrison Battalion, The Suffolk Regiment), killed in action, Flanders, France, 24th August 1918.

Born 1889 December Quarter, Sevenoaks, Kent, Son of Thomas & Harriet Ashdown, of Sevenoaks, Kent. 10th November 1889, baptised, Sevenoaks, Kent.

1911 Census - Old Bank Yard, Lime Tree Walk, Sevenoaks, Kent -Thomas Ashdown, head, age 54, married, coachman, born Seal, Kent; Harriet Ashdown, wife, age 55, married 31 years, 5 children all still alive, born Sevenoaks, Kent; Grace Ashdown, daughter, age 26, single, born Sevenoaks, Kent; Percy Ashdown, son, age 21, single, hairdresser, born Sevenoaks, Kent; Ralph Ashdown, son, age18, shop assistant in boot trade, born Sevenoaks, Kent.

5th April 1915, Tonbridge, Kent, married Alice Laura Nicker, spinster, of 103 Beeching Road, Reading, Berkshire / 36, Lupus St., St. George's Square, Pimlico, London.

Home 11th December 1915 to 27th June 1917; BEF, 28th June 1917 to 12th August 1917; Home 13th August 1917 to 21st January 1918; BEF, 22nd January 1918 to 24th August 1918.

Enlisted 11th December 1915, Tonbridge, Kent, age 25, height 5ft 5 inches, weight 123lbs, resided 5 Buckhurst Avenue, Sevenoaks, Kent.

11th December 1915, enlisted;11th December 1915, to Army Reserve; 6th May 1916, mobilized; 6th May 1916, rejected by Medical Board as unfit, transferred to Class B Reserve; 8th February 1917, mobilized; 10th February 1917, 1st Reserve Garrison Battalion, The Suffolk Regiment, posted from Depot, Royal West Kent Regiment; 10th May 1917, posted 3rd Battalion, Royal West Kent Regiment; 28th June 1917, posted 15th Battalion, Base Depot; 28th June 1917, posted 7th Battalion, Royal West Kent Regiment; 21st July 1917, posted 8th Battalion, Royal West Kent Regiment; 12th August 1917, posted Depot, Royal West Kent Regiment; 13th August 1917 to 23rd October 1917, Bethnal Green Military Hospital, Cambridge Road, cellulitis, right knee & thigh; 23rd October 1917 to 8th December 1917, Convalescent Hospital Eastbourne, cellulitis, right knee & thigh; 9th December 1917, fit, sent on furlough; 18th December 1917, posted 3rd Battalion, Royal West Kent Regiment; 23rd January 1918, embarked, posted BEF & 6th Battalion, Royal West Kent Regiment; 30th January 1918, joined Battalion; 3rd May 1918, sick to Field Ambulance; 4th May 1918, 5 General Hospital Rouen; 17th May 1918, Infantry Base Depot, Etaples; 21st May 1918, rejoined Battalion.

Separation Allowance of 12/6 a week to be paid until 23rd March 1919.

27th September 1918, The Chronicle & Courier - We regret to announce the death in action of Pte. P.T. Ashdown R.W.K. son of Mr & Mrs Ashdown of Lime Tree Walk, Sevenoaks, who was killed on the 24th August last. Pte. Ashdown enlisted in May 1917 and went to France in the following June and received wounds in the leg in the August of that year. After recovering he was sent out again in January last and as stated was killed while doing his duty. Pte. Ashdown who prior to the war had a hairdressers business at Tonbridge leaves a widow to mourn.

20th March 1920, Statement of Relatives - Widow, Alice Laura Ashdown, 17 Lockmere Road, Willesden Green, NW; Father, T Ashdown, Lime Tree Walk, Sevenoaks, Kent; Mother, H Ashdown, Lime Tree Walk, Sevenoaks, Kent; Brother, R Ashdown, 91 Wellington Road, Gravesend, Kent; Sisters, G Ashdown, 129 ????? Street, Llandudo?, M Ashdown, 45 Pelmarsh Road, Southsea?.

Buried at Meaulte Military Cemetery, F13, Somme, France. . Commemorated Sevenoaks War Memorial.

NOTE: One of 18 members of the 6th Battalion Royal West Kent Regiment who were killed on 24 August 1918. All are now buried in Meaulte Military Cemetery.

This page was last updated on 23-Nov-2021.