{{short description|Recipient of the Victoria Cross}} {{Use British English|date=December 2013}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}} {{Infobox military person |name=Thomas Elsdon Ashford |honorific_suffix = VC |birth_date=1859 |death_date={{Death date and age|1913|02|21|1859|df=y}} |birth_place=Newmarket, Suffolk |death_place=Whitwick, Leicestershire |burial_place=Whitwick Cemetery |image= Thomas Elsdon Ashford VC.jpg |image_size= |caption= |nickname= |allegiance= {{UK}} |service_number= |service_years=1877–1889 |rank=Private |branch=23px British Army |commands= |unit=Royal Fusiliers |battles=Second Anglo-Afghan War |awards= 30px Victoria Cross |other_work=Postman }} '''Thomas Elsdon Ashford''' (1859 – 21 February 1913) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
==Early life== He was born in 1859 at 2 Peck's Cottage, All Saints, Newmarket, Suffolk,<ref name="MtV">{{cite web | url=http://www.memorialstovalour.co.uk/thomaselsdonashfordvc359.html | title=VC359 Thomas Elsdon Ashford | accessdate=1 July 2017}}</ref> the illegitimate son of Thomas Ashford, a boot maker and Emma Elsdon. Thomas joined the Army at Woolwich for the 49th Brigade on 12 June 1877.<ref name="GoLeicester">{{cite web | url=http://www.goleicestershire.com/see-and-do/Whitwick-Historical-Group-VC.aspx | archive-url=https://archive.today/20130411011341/http://www.goleicestershire.com/see-and-do/Whitwick-Historical-Group-VC.aspx | url-status=dead | archive-date=11 April 2013 | title=Whitwick Historical Group | accessdate=8 March 2013 }}</ref>
==The VC action== He was about 21 years old, and a private in The Royal Fusiliers,<ref name="RFusiliers">{{cite web | url=http://rrflondon.2day.ws/siteFiles/files/RRFLondon_ElegantExtractsVCJan2011_1294324105.pdf | title=THE ROYAL FUSILIERS RECIPIENTS OF THE VICTORIA CROSS | accessdate=8 March 2013}}</ref> British Army during the Second Anglo-Afghan War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC. left|thumb|Pte Thomas Ashford VC, c1880 (IWM HU71321) On 16 August 1880 at Deh Khoja, near Kandahar, Afghanistan, Private Ashford assisted Lieutenant William St. Lucien Chase in rescuing and carrying for a distance of over 200 yards under the fire of the enemy, a wounded soldier who had taken shelter in a block-house and finally brought the wounded man to a place of safety. His citation read:{{quote|For conspicuous gallantry on the occasion of the sortie from Kandahar, on the 16th August, 1880, against the village of Deh Khoja, in having rescued and carried for a distance of over 200 yards, under the fire of the enemy, a wounded soldier, Private Massey, of the Royal Fusiliers, who had taken shelter in a blockhouse. Several times they were compelled to rest, but they persevered in bringing him to a place of safety.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=25023|page=4990|date=7 October 1881}}</ref>}}
After his military service, Ashford settled in Thringstone, Leicestershire and served as a postman for many years. He was married in Thringstone Church to Betsy Ann Sisson on 29 January 1891. He later moved to the neighbouring village of Whitwick<ref name="Whitwick">{{cite web | url=http://www.whitwick.org.uk/history/whitwickvc.htm | title=Whitwick Community Information | accessdate=8 March 2013}}</ref> and died on 13 February 1913. He was laid to rest in Whitwick Cemetery, in the presence of thousands of mourners, though the grave lay unmarked for many years, until a monument was provided by the local British Legion.<ref name="GoLeicester" /> Three streets in Whitwick have since been named in his honour.
==The Medal== His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Royal Fusiliers Museum in the Tower of London.
==References== {{reflist|30em}} * [http://rrflondon.2day.ws/siteFiles/files/RRFLondon_ElegantExtractsVCJan2011_1294324105.pdf Royal Fusiliers Recipients of the Victoria Cross] * "Elegant Extracts" - The Royal Fusiliers Recipients of the VC (J.P. Kelleher, 2001) *Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999) *The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)
==External links== *[http://www.whitwick.org.uk/history/whitwickvc.htm Leicestershire's first VC] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20121225010226/http://www.victoriacross.org.uk/leiceste.htm Burial location of Thomas Ashford] "Leicestershire" *[http://www.victoriacross.org.uk/ccroyfus.htm Location of Thomas Ashord's Victoria Cross] "Royal Fusiliers Museum, London" *{{Find a Grave|11263157}} {{Royal Regiment of Fusiliers}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashford, Thomas Elsdon}} Category:British recipients of the Victoria Cross Category:Royal Fusiliers soldiers Category:1859 births Category:1913 deaths Category:Burials in Leicestershire Category:People from Newmarket, Suffolk Category:Second Anglo-Afghan War recipients of the Victoria Cross Category:Deaths from bronchitis Category:British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross Category:People from Thringstone Category:People from Whitwick Category:Military personnel from Suffolk Category:19th-century British Army personnel