Private Albert Richard Ashley
| Date of Birth | 15 May 1899 |
|---|---|
| Age at Death | 15 |
| Date of Death | 27 April 1915 |
| Service Number | 11002 |
| Military Service | 2nd Battlion East Surrey Regiment |
| Merton Address | 59 Palmerston Road, Wimbledon |
| Local Memorial | St. Mary's Church, Merton Park |
Additional Information
Born on 15 May, 1899, in Worth, Sussex, Albert was the son of James and Minnie Ashley.
By 1911 he was living at 59 Palmerston Road, Wimbledon with his parents, elder brother Robert and one year old brother Harry. The family later moved to 14 Dane Road, Merton and Albert attended the local Church of England Boys School.
Aged just 15, Albert enlisted as a Private in the 2nd Battalion, East Surrey Regiment in November 1914. He told the recruiting officer that he was born in 1885 and this was not queried, possibly because Albert was tall for his age, standing some 5 feet, 10 inches in height.
Albert’s unit was initially sent to France but later transferred to Flanders. He was wounded on 25 April 1915 and was killed in action two days later. A Lance Corporal in the same regiment reported that Ashley had been sent out of the trenches with both thumbs badly wounded. A fellow Private later found Albert dead in a trench, with his thumbs bound up and that he had buried him.
Albert’s service records survive and show that he was buried between 1 and 6 May 1915, near Zonnebeke. It is possible that his body was later recovered, but having no identification was later reburied as a “Known Unto God” in one of the many Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries in the area. Albert is one of thousands of Allied servicemen commemorated in the Menin Gate in Ypres.