Colin Joseph ASHLEY

ASHLEY, Colin Joseph

Service Number: 1229
Enlisted: 5 August 1915, An original of D Company
Last Rank: Gunner
Last Unit: 14th Field Artillery Brigade
Born: Hay, New South Wales, Australia, 17 December 1893
Home Town: Hay, New South Wales
Schooling: Not yet discovered
Occupation: Labourer
Died: Killed in Action, Belgium, 1 October 1917, aged 23 years
Cemetery: No known grave - "Known Unto God"
Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Flanders, Belgium
Memorials: Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Hay Lodge No 25 I.O.O.F. Honour Roll, Menin Gate Memorial (Commonwealth Memorial to the Missing of the Ypres Salient)
Show Relationships

World War 1 Service

5 Aug 1915: Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 1229, 30th Infantry Battalion, An original of D Company
9 Nov 1915: Involvement Private, 1229, 30th Infantry Battalion, Third Ypres, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '16' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Beltana embarkation_ship_number: A72 public_note: ''
9 Nov 1915: Embarked Private, 1229, 30th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Beltana, Sydney
1 Oct 1917: Involvement Gunner, 1229, 14th Field Artillery Brigade , Third Ypres, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 1229 awm_unit: 14 Field Artillery Brigade awm_rank: Gunner awm_died_date: 1917-10-01

Help us honour Colin Joseph Ashley's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.

Biography contributed by Stephen Brooks

His father was John Ashley, McCauley Street, East Hay, New South Wales.

Colin disembarked Suez, 11 December 1915. He transferred to 5th Division Artillery and was taken on strength, 15th Field Artillery Brigade during March 1916. He arrived in France during June 1916. He transferred to 14th Field Artillery Brigade in early 1917 and was wounded in action, 9 April 1917 (gun shot wound, right arm). He rejoined his unit about 5 weeks later. Colin Ashley was killed in action, 1 October 1917. Age 24.

His older brother, 586 Pte James Alfred Ashley, 2nd Battalion AIF had been killed in action at Lone Pine Gallipoli, 6-9 August 1915.

Another younger brother, 3652 Private Harold Ashley 7th Light Horse Regiment AIF, enlisted in 1917 and returned home sick with malaria during 1919.

Riverine Grazier (Hay, NSW) 26 October 1917. 
'We regret to have to report the death of another Hay soldier at the Front. On Wednesday afternoon a message was received- from Base Records Office that Gunner Colin Ashley had been killed in action on the 1st inst. Gunner Ashley was the fourth
son of Mr and Mrs John Ashley, very old residents- of the district. He was a native of Hay, and about 24 years of age. He enlisted at Hay in August 1915, and was amongst the first of the Australians to go to France. An elder brother, Jas. Ashley, was one of the Gallipoli heroes, who fell during the days of Lone Pine. Colin was also wounded some months ago in France, but had been back with the guns for some time. A third brother, Harold, is about to sail for the Front. Great sympathy is expressed for the family of the deceased on their double war bereavement.'

Read more...