William Ashwood

The Battalion arrived at Le Havre on the 15/08/1914 and were part of the 13th Brigade, 5th Division. William arrived in France on the 07/06/1915. William was originally posted as missing before confirmation of his death in June 1917. He was Killed in Action at the Battle of Morval, 25th - 28th September 1916 : Having broken through the prepared lines of German defence, the British force now faced a new set of challenges as it was now fighting in much flatter, open ground and approached the distant gentle slopes of the Transloy ridges. Fighting was, as before, severe but gradually the British chipped away and pushed forward. The weather began to turn autumnal, bringing rain, making the battlefield increasingly difficult and stretching men to limits of their physical endurance. This was part of the Battles of the Somme, 1st July - 18th November 1916 : A Franco-British offensive that was undertaken after Allied strategic conferences in late 1915, but which changed its nature due to the German attack against the French in the epic Battle of Verdun, which lasted from late February to November. Huge British losses on the first day and a series of fiercely-contested steps that became attritional in nature. For all armies on the Western Front it was becoming what the Germans would call "materialschlacht" : a war not of morale, will or even manpower, but of sheer industrial material might. The 15th September 1916 saw the first-ever use of tanks in the step known as the Battle of Flers-Courcelette. The British army in France is now approaching its maximum strength in numbers but is still developing in terms of tactics, technology, command and control. SEE PHOTOS x 10 FOR THE BATTALION WAR DIARY SEPTEMBER 1916 and SEE PHOTOS x 34 FOR THE 5th DIVISION BOOK JULY - OCTOBER 1916. See Directory for William's brother John's page. William is also remembered on the Whifflet United Free Church Roll of Honour (see photos). See photos for William's Medal Index Card, his Army Register of Soldiers Effects, his Service Medal and Award Rolls, his CWGC Grave Registration, William's parents and sisters Memorial Stone in Old Monkland Cemetery, William's name on the Thiepval Memorial taken by myself in July 2023, the King's Own Scottish Borderers Cap Badge and William's Pension Records x 2. Finally, see photos for Newspaper clippings x 4 (Coatbridge Express x 2, Coatbridge Leader x 1 and Airdrie and Coatbridge Advertiser x 1), Thiepval Memorial taken by myself on a rainy day in July 2023, myself at the Thiepval Memorial that same day, the 5th Division Order of Battle x 12 (the Division he was with when he died), another Newspaper clipping from the Coatbridge Express 24/09/1919 and Airdrie and Coatbridge Advertiser 29/09/1917 and another 2 photos of William's name on the Thiepval Memorial kindly donated by my friend in France, Thierry Dericbourg.