Edward Ashmore (British Army officer)
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| Edward Bailey Ashmore | |
|---|---|
| 20 February 1872 – 5 October 1953 | |
| Nickname | Splash |
| Place of birth | Paddington, London, England |
| Place of death | Arundel, Sussex, England |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service/branch | British Army (c. 1891-1918, 1919-1929) Royal Air Force (1918-1919) |
| Rank | Major-General |
| Unit | Royal Artillery Royal Flying Corps |
| Commands held | First Wing, RFC IV Brigade, RFC London Air Defence Area 1st Air Defence Brigade Territorial Army Air Defence Brigades |
| Battles/wars | Boer War World War I World War II |
| Other work | Founded the Observer Corps |
Major General Edward Bailey Ashmore CB, CMG, MVO (20 February 1872 – 5 October 1953) was a British Army officer from the 1890s to the 1920s who served in the Royal Artillery, the Royal Flying Corps and briefly in the Royal Air Force before founding and commanding the Royal Observer Corps.
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[edit] Early career
Ashmore entered the Royal Artillery in 1891 as an other rank and served in South Africa before being recommended for officer rank and attending the Staff College at Woolwich.
Ashmore's war in 1914 began in the rank of Major. Having learned to fly and joining the reserve of the Royal Flying Corps he subsequently became commander of an RFC brigade in France in 1915.
[edit] Air defence of London
In his later military career he was the leading figure in the air defence of the United Kingdom and became the founder and first Commandant of what would eventually become the Royal Observer Corps. He was appointed to devise improved systems of detection, communication and control. A system to be called the Metropolitan Observation Service was created, this covered the London area, known as the London Air Defence Area, and was soon extended towards the coasts of Kent and Essex. The system met with some success and although it was not fully working until late summer 1918 (the last air raid took place on 19 May) the lessons learnt were to provide valuable grounding for later developments.
In 1922, responsibility for air defence was transferred from the War Office, which was responsible for the Army, to the Air Ministry. Major General Ashmore, who had been responsible for matters during World War I, now reported to a new Air Raid Precautions (ARP) committee set up in January 1924. Experiments were now carried out around Romney Marsh and the Weald. These were intended to optimise the arrangement of observation posts and control centres. In 1925 these experiments were extended to cover parts of Essex and Hampshire and by October a sound methodology had been worked out. On 29 October 1925 the Observer Corps came into official existence.
Within a year four Groups existed in SE England, covering much of Kent, Sussex, Hampshire and Essex. The plan was that the country would be covered by 18 of these groups. The involvement and cooperation were needed between the Royal Air Force (RAF), the Army, the British police forces and the General Post Office (GPO), then responsible for the national telephone system. Major General Ashmore was appointed the first Commandant of the Observer Corps in 1925.
[edit] World War II
During World War II he commanded a battalion of the Home Guard, by which time he was over 70 years of age.
[edit] References
- Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organisation - Major-General E B Ashmore
- First World War.com - Who's Who: Edward Ashmore
- Oxford Dictionary of National Biography - Ashmore, Edward Bailey (requires login)
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by H M Trenchard As Officer Commanding the Military Wing |
Officer Commanding the Administrative Wing, RFC 1914 – 1915 |
Succeeded by J M Salmond |
| Preceded by H M Trenchard |
Officer Commanding 1st Wing RFC 1915–1916 |
Succeeded by unknown |
