Ernest Arthur Ash (1882-1948)
Tea planter from Malaya rose to lieutenant colonel and commanded the 2/6th DLI awarded the DSO
Ernest Arthur Ash, the son of Charles George and Mary Ash, was born in Chester, Cheshire in the summer of 1882. He had two brothers and a sister. His father was a dentist and the family lived in Cheshire until Charles died in 1889. By 1901 the family had moved to Bedfordshire and Ernest had been commissioned into the 5th Middlesex (Duke of Cambridge’s Own) Regiment, but shortly afterwards transferred to the Connaught Rangers.
By 1907 Ernest was a tea planter living in Malaya and had joined the Malay States Volunteer Regiment. At the outbreak of the war he returned to England and, in 1916, married Mildred Haywood Turley in Wales. While fighting in France, he was mentioned in despatches and, by 1918, he had re-joined the Middlesex Regiment and had risen to the rank of major. Towards the end of 1918 he was appointed acting lieutenant colonel in command of the 2nd/6th Battalion Durham light Infantry and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order, which was gazetted on 3 June 1919.
Ernest retired in 1921 and transferred to the Special Reserve. Over the next fifteen years Ernest and Mildred made several journeys to the Far East and Mildred died in Australia in 1942. In 1945 he married Barbara Mary Radcliffe in London and they moved to Kenya. Ernest died on 12 February 1948 in Port Sudan en route to Mombassa in Kenya.
Birth date: 1882
Death date: 12-Feb-1948
Armed force/civilian: Army
Residence: 40 De Parys Avenue, Bedford (1901 Census)
Klang, Selangor, Malaysia (1907) (England, United Grand Lodge of England Freemason Membership Registers, 1751-1921
2 Gogarth Road, Llandudno, N. Wales (1925)(UK, Outward Passenger Lists, 1890-1960)
49 Kent Road, Harrogate, Yorkshire (1929)(UK, Outward Passenger Lists, 1890-1960)
Education: Parkhurst School, Fairfield, Near Buxton, Derbyshire (1891 Census)
Organisation membership: Freemason – Read Lodge, Kuala Lumpur (England, United Grand Lodge of England Freemason Membership Registers, 1751-1921)
Family: Father: Charles George Ash
Mother: Mary Ash (nee Wilkinson)
Siblings: George Charles, Eleanor Constance & Henry Claudius Ash
Wives: Mildred Haywood Thwaite (Nee Turley) and Barbara Mary Radcliffe
Military service:
5th Middlesex (Duke of Cambridge's Own) Regiment, Malay States Volunteer Regiment, Connaught Rangers, 2nd/6th Battalion Durham Light Infantry
Lieutenant-Colonel
Medal(s): Distinguished Service Order
Mentioned in Dispatches
British War Medal
Victory Medal
1935 Jubilee Medal
Colonial Forces Long Service Medal
Colonial Auxiliary Forces Decoration
(The medal set was sold at auction on 17 September 2009 for £1900)
Gender: Male
Contributed by John Edwards
