{{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 (rank)|Private]] |branch=[[File:Flag of the British Army.svg|23px]] [[British Army]] |commands= |unit=[[Royal Fusiliers]] |battles=[[Second Anglo-Afghan War]] |awards= [[File:UK Victoria Cross ribbon bar.svg|30px]] [[Victoria Cross]] |other_work=Postman }} '''Thomas Elsdon Ashford''' (1859 – 21 February 1913) was an [[England|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 [[United Kingdom|British]] and [[Commonwealth of Nations|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 (rank)|private]] in [[The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment)|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. [[File:Pre 1914 Victoria Cross Holders HU71321.jpg|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 [[Royal British Legion|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]]