GEORGE ASHTON

Rank: Second Lieutenant

Service: Royal Flying Corps (later merged with the Royal Naval Air Service to form the Royal Air Force on 1^st April 1918)

Regiment: RAF 8^th Squadron West Ridings

George Gilbert Ashton was born on the 19^th November 1894 in Cottingham, East Yorkshire, England. He was the son of Charles William Ashton and Mary Hannah Lawson, a plumber and ironmonger, of 11 Linden Avenue, Cottingham, Hull, UK.

He enlisted in Hull on the 16^th November 1914, aged 20 years, as a private in the 4^th & 5^th East Yorkshire Reserve Battalions and undertook training in Ripon, North Yorkshire.

He was posted to France on the 28^th July 1915 and received bullet wounds to his hand, wrist and head, resulting in him returning to England 5 days later. Once recovered from injury he was promoted to Second Lieutenant and transferred into the Royal Air Force, upon its creation. Second Lieutenant George Gilbert Ashton’s plane was shot down during a reconnaissance mission and he was killed in action on the 23^rd July 1918 age 23 years. He is buried in Heath Cemetery, Harbonnieres, France in Plot IX, Row D, Grave 7. His name is also recorded on the Cottingham WW1 Memorial and the Hull Technical College Memorial.