The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (S4730) Sub-Lieutenant Bruce Valentine Ashton, coxswain of landing craft, LCA (HR) 1106, Second World War

The Last Post Ceremony is presented in the Commemorative area of the Australian War Memorial each day. The ceremony commemorates more than 102,000 Australians who have given their lives in war and other operations and whose names are recorded on the Roll of Honour. At each ceremony the story behind one of the names on the Roll of Honour is told. Hosted by Meredith Duncan, the story for this day was on (S4730) Sub-Lieutenant Bruce Valentine Ashton, coxswain of landing craft, LCA (HR) 1106, Second World War.

S4730 Sub-Lieutenant Bruce Valentine Ashton, coxswain of landing craft, LCA (HR) 1106
KIA 6 June 1944
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 8 May 2015

Today we pay tribute to Sub-Lieutenant Bruce Ashton, who was killed on D-Day, 6 June, 1944.

D-Day has become an iconic event not only in the history of the Second World War but also in the history of the Western world. On this tumultuous day a multi-national Allied force landed on the shores of Normandy. It was the first major step in the liberation of Western Europe from the tyranny of Nazism and fascism.

Born in Melbourne on 17 April 1921, Bruce Ashton enlisted in the Royal Australian Navy in October 1940. Seconded to the Royal Navy, Ashton travelled to England in 1941. There he undertook further training at HMS Osprey, an anti-submarine training establishment in Portland, using a newly developed weapon – the Hedgehog. Intended for deployment in the battle of the Atlantic, the Hedgehog was an anti-submarine projector that fired a number of small spigot mortars from spiked fittings.

From August 1941 to March 1942 Ashton served on Atlantic convoy duty aboard the destroyer HMS Montgomery – newly equipped with the Hedgehog weapon system. In August 1942 he was promoted to the rank of sub-lieutenant and joined HMS Quebec: a flotilla of landing craft. There he was to bring his knowhow of the Hedgehog to amphibious operations, where the weapon would be used as a more conventional mortar to aid in the clearing of mines and beach obstacles. In 1943 Ashton commanded a landing craft during the invasion of Sicily.

On 6 June 1944 Ashton was in command of Landing Craft Assault (Hedgerow) 1106. Having endured an arduous crossing of the channel, the craft was approaching Gold Beach. Yet to fire its Hedgehog spigot mortars, the craft was accidently rammed by an out-of-control landing craft tank, and capsized. Ashton and three of his Royal Navy crew were all killed. His body was later recovered and buried in the Bayeux War Cemetery.

Ashton was one of thousands of Australians who served within the British and Commonwealth forces on D-Day and throughout the Normandy campaign. On this day of days, Bruce Ashton made the ultimate sacrifice. He was 23.

His name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, along with around 40,000 Australians who died in the Second World War.

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Sub-Lieutenant Bruce Ashton, and all of those Australians – as well as our Allies and brothers in arms – who gave their lives in the hope for a better world.

Dr Lachlan Grant
Historian, Military History Section