Selected Biography

Ashman, Josiah Frederick – Born: Horringer, Suffolk on 18.6.1909.[1]  Parents: Oliver Josiah Ashman (Stockman) [see below for details] and Eva Mary [née Dorling].  Family Connections: Brother to Phyllis Rosalind Mary Ashman [b1911].  Home: The Street, Horringer, Suffolk (1911), Newman’s Green, Acton, Suffolk (1921), Woollards Gardens, Long Melford [1934] 110 Southgate Street, Bury St Edmunds (1939).  Occupation: Soldier.  Married: Dorothy Maud Greenwood in 1934.  Service Record: Josiah enlisted in 1929 as Gnr.789578 with the Royal Regiment of Artillery, serving with the rank of Sergeant during the Second World War and being awarded the Army Long Service & Good Conduct Medal.  He re-enlisted in 1947 for a further four years.[2]  Died: Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk in 1983 and buried in St Leonards Church in Horringer, Suffolk.

Ashman, Oliver Josiah – Born: Chevington, Suffolk on 5.2.1880.[3]  Parents: Josiah Ashman (Woodman) and Caroline [née Garrod].  Family Connections: Father to Josiah Frederick Ashman [b1909] and Phyllis Rosalind Mary Ashman [b1911].  Home: Weathercock Hill, Chevington, Suffolk (1881), The Street, Horringer, Suffolk (1891 to 1911), Newman’s Green, Acton, Suffolk (1921), Woollards Gardens, Long Melford (1939).  Occupation: Stockkeeper on Farm (1901), Agricultural Labourer (1911 to 1939).  Married: Eva Mary Dorling [1881-1918] in 1908, and Susan Ursula Matthews in 1923.  Service Record: Oliver enlisted as Pte.16931 with 1^st Battalion, Suffolk Regiment, being posted to France from 18.5.1915, as part of 84^th Brigade, 28^th Division.  Shortly after his arrival he was thrown into the fray during a failed attempt to storm German positions at Bellewaarde Farm.  His unit was badly cut about by concentrated machine-gun fire leaving 140 men killed, wounded, or missing.  In September 1915 the Battalion was moved from the Ypres Salient to the Somme valley, where it was pitched against the near impregnable strongpoint of the Hohenzollern Redoubt. The attack began in the early hours of 2.10.1915 and was dogged by a series of delays, men got lost in the dark, with some units not actually making it to the start line.  Added to this, the expected artillery support did not materialize and despite intense displays of bravery the affair ended in failure with the Suffolks alone losing 160 men.  By the end of November 1^st Suffolks had been shipped along with the Division to Salonika, where it was to stay until the end of the conflict.[4]  Oliver received his discharge in May 1920 while serving as Pte.72871 with the Norfolk Regiment.  In the absence of an extant Service Record, it is not known if he was still serving with 1^st Suffolks when it moved to Salonika, or at what date he transferred and to which Norfolk battalion he had belonged.[5]  Died: Sudbury, Suffolk in 1944.

Ashman, Phyllis Rosalind Mary – Born: Horringer, Suffolk on 26.6.1911.[6]  Parents: Oliver Josiah Ashman (Stockman) [see below for details] and Eva Mary [née Dorling].  Family Connections: Brother to Josiah Frederick Ashman [b1909].  Home: Newman’s Green, Acton, Suffolk (1921), High Street, Bures, Suffolk (1939), 110 Southgate Street, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk [1942].  Occupation: Housekeeper (1939).  Married: Percy W. Wade in1947.  Service Record: Phyllis Ashman enlisted on 23.1.1942 as WLA.63205 with the Women’s Land Army, receiving her discharge in 1947.[7]  Died: Suffolk on 11.12.1997.[8]

Notes – [1] 1939 Register. [2] Royal Artillery Attestations 1883-1942. [3] Date of birth from the 1939 Register for Long Melford District. [4] For details of 1^st Suffolk’s movements on the Western Front and in Salonika see War Diaries [WO 95/2277/3] and [WO 95/4916], and Lieutenant-Colonel C.C.R. Murphy, The History of the Suffolk Regiment 1914-1927 [London: Hutchinson and Co, 1928], pp.75-81, 126-29, 155-64 and 303-10. [5] Medal Roll [WO 329] and Medal Index Card [WO 372]. [6] 1939 Register. [7] World War II Women’s Land Army Index Cards, 1939-1948. [8] National Probate Calendar.