Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

Lionel Arthur Ashfield DFC (1 August 1898 – 16 July 1918) was a

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

British

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviation, military aviator credited with shooting down a certain minimum number of enemy aircraft during aerial combat; the exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ...

credited with seven aerial victories.

Background

The second son of Charles Edmund Ashfield and his wife Ida Lucy Hunt, Lionel Arthur Ashfield was born on 1 August 1898 at

Wootton Bassett Royal Wootton Bassett , formerly Wootton Bassett, is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, with a population of 13,570 at the 2021 Census. In the north of the county, it lies to the west of the town of Swindon and northeast of ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. He was christened there on 28 August 1898. His father was the

headmaster A headmaster/headmistress, head teacher, head, school administrator, principal or school director (sometimes another title is used) is the staff member of a school with the greatest responsibility for the management of the school. Role While s ...

of Hazelhurst School in

Frant Frant is a village and civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England, on the Kentish border about three miles (5 km) south of Royal Tunbridge Wells. When the iron industry was at its height, much of the village was owned by ...

East Sussex East Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the north-east, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the north-west, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement ...

. Lionel attended

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English private boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. It was founded as Marlborough School in 1843 by the Dean of Manchester, George ...

Marlborough Marlborough or the Marlborough may refer to: Places Australia * Marlborough, Queensland * Principality of Marlborough, a short-lived micronation in 1993 * Marlborough Highway, Tasmania; Malborough was an historic name for the place at the sou ...

, Wiltshire, where he played

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

. He was admitted to the school in September 1912 and left in the spring of 1917.

Military career

Lionel Ashfield joined the

Royal Naval Air Service The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty (United Kingdom), Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British ...

on 29 April 1917. He was first stationed at

Eastchurch Eastchurch is a village and civil parish on the Isle of Sheppey, in the English county of Kent, two miles east of Minster, Swale, Minster. The village website claims the area has "a history steeped in stories of piracy and smugglers". Aviation ...

Isle of Sheppey The Isle of Sheppey is an island off the northern coast of Kent, England, neighbouring the Thames Estuary, centred from central London. It has an area of . The island forms part of the districts of England, local government district of Borough ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

in June 1917. He was posted to

Cranwell Cranwell is a village in the civil parish of Cranwell, Brauncewell and Byard's Leap, in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated approximately north-west from Sleaford and south-east from Lincoln. The principal ...

North Kesteven North Kesteven is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in Lincolnshire, England. The council is based in Sleaford. The district also contains the town of North Hykeham, which adjoins the neighbouring city of Lincoln, England, L ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

the following month. Ashfield became a flight sub-lieutenant on 29 August 1917. In September 1917, Ashfield was posted to Freiston, Lincolnshire. Later that month, the aviator served at Manston,

Thanet Thanet may refer to: * Isle of Thanet, a former island, now a peninsula, at the most easterly point of Kent, England * Thanet District, a local government district containing the island *Thanet College, former name of East Kent College * Thanet Ca ...

, Kent. On 15 November 1917, Ashfield joined the No. 2 Squadron of the Royal Naval Air Service at

Dunkirk Dunkirk ( ; ; ; Picard language, Picard: ''Dunkèke''; ; or ) is a major port city in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France. It lies from the Belgium, Belgian border. It has the third-larg ...

(

Dunkerque Dunkirk ( ; ; ; Picard language, Picard: ''Dunkèke''; ; or ) is a major port city in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France. It lies from the Belgium, Belgian border. It has the third-larg ...

Nord Nord, a word meaning "north" in several European languages, may refer to: Acronyms * National Organization for Rare Disorders, an American nonprofit organization * New Orleans Recreation Department, New Orleans, Louisiana, US Film and televisi ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. After the 1 April 1918 merger of that branch with the

Royal Flying Corps The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC sup ...

, he served as a lieutenant in the No. 202 Squadron of the 61st Wing of the newly formed

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

. The British flying ace is credited with shooting down seven enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The 2009 auction site of three of his medals, as well as photocopies of his combat reports and service record, lists six of the seven aerial victories. Those listed include 27 February 1918 (first two), 18 March 1918 (third), 18 May 1918 (fourth), and 21 May 1918 (fifth and sixth). The victory of 18 May 1918 occurred while he was in his de Havilland DH.4 (A7868) flying over

Bruges Bruges ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders, in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is in the northwest of the country, and is the sixth most populous city in the country. The area of the whole city amoun ...

West Flanders West Flanders is the westernmost province of the Flemish Region, in Belgium. It is the only coastal Belgian province, facing the North Sea to the northwest. It has land borders with the Dutch province of Zeeland to the northeast, the Flemis ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. A seventh which took place on 31 May 1918, while flying over

Ostend Ostend ( ; ; ; ) is a coastal city and municipality in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerke, Raversijde, Stene and Zandvoorde, and the city of Ostend proper – the la ...

, West Flanders in the de Havilland DH.4 (D8402), is not specifically mentioned at the auction site, but has been previously documented. On 27 June 1918, Lionel Ashfield and his observer Lieutenant N H Jenkins DSM engaged in aerial combat with enemy aircraft. Observer Jenkins was wounded in action near Middelkerke, with Ashfield piloting DH.4 (A7868). On 3 August 1918, the

London Gazette London is the capital and largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Western Europe, with a population of 14.9 million. London stands on the River Tha ...

announced that Ashfield had been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC). The citation for the DFC in the Gazette indicated that he was a "very capable officer of exceptional judgment and courage. He has carried out sixty-two flights behind the enemy lines with invariable success. During the last few months he has engaged seventeen enemy machines, and has been instrumental in destroying five. On one occasion he attacked five enemy aeroplanes, bringing down one in flames."

Death

On 16 July 1918, Lieutenant Ashfield's

Airco The Aircraft Manufacturing Company Limited (Airco) was an early British aircraft manufacturer. Established during 1912, it grew rapidly during the First World War, referring to itself as the largest aircraft company in the world by 1918. Airc ...

de Havilland DH.4 with

serial number A serial number (SN) is a unique identifier used to ''uniquely'' identify an item, and is usually assigned incrementally or sequentially. Despite being called serial "numbers", they do not need to be strictly numerical and may contain letters ...

A7868 was shot down while returning from Bruges by Vizeflugmeister Hans Goerth over the village of Zevekote in West Flanders, Belgium. The aviator was reported missing that day. By 29 August, it had been announced that Lieutenant Lionel Arthur Ashfield had been killed in action. His observer, Lieutenant Maurice Graham English, also died in the aerial combat. During World War I, the German flying ace Hans Goerth was credited with seven aerial victories. The downing of Ashfield's de Havilland was the third of seven victories for Goerth. Ashfield was interred at the Ramscappelle Road Military Cemetery near Nieuwpoort in West Flanders. However, there is also a memorial tablet for the British aviator on the east wall of the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

Saint Alban Saint Alban (; ) is venerated as the first-recorded British Christian martyr, for which reason he is considered to be the British protomartyr. Along with fellow Saints Julius and Aaron, Alban is one of three named martyrs recorded at an ea ...

Church in Frant, East Sussex. The inscription on the

cenotaph A cenotaph is an empty grave, tomb or a monument erected in honor of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere or have been lost. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although t ...

reads: "To the Glory of God and in the dear memory of Lionel Arthur Ashfield, D.F.C., R.A.F., Killed in action 16 July 1918, Second son of Charles and Ida Ashfield of Hazelhurst, Frant, aged 19 years. Faithful unto death."

References

External links

*
Photograph of memorial tablet at Saint Alban
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashfield, Lionel 1898 births 1918 deaths Royal Naval Air Service aviators British military personnel killed in World War I Aviators killed by being shot down British World War I flying aces Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Royal Air Force personnel of World War I People educated at Marlborough College People from Royal Wootton Bassett Burials at Ramscappelle Road Military Cemetery People from Frant Military personnel from Wiltshire