Edward Ashmore

First World War

HA

General Edward Ashmore was a pioneer in air defence during the First World War. Born 20 February 1872, Ashmore served as a British Army Officer for 30 years. Serving in the Royal Artillery, the RFC and the RAF, he went on to create and develop the organisation that would become the Royal Observer Corps.

Ashmore’s military career began in 1891 when, following graduation from the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich, he was commissioned into the Royal Regiment of Artillery as a Second Lieutenant. Posted to South Africa, he served in the Second Boer War and was promoted to Lieutenant in 1894. Ashmore was promoted to Captain in February 1900 and was severely wounded during the Relief of Kimberley in March 1900.

In the years leading up to the First World War, Ashmore served as a Staff Officer, Major and General Staff Officer. By January 1914, Ashmore had transferred to the special reserve of the RFC and trained as a pilot. Within a year, he was Commander of the 1st Wing RFC in France. In 1917, he returned to England, where he was given the rank of Major-General and command of London’s air defences. In this role, Ashmore established the principles of early air raid warning and ensured rapid responses by intercepting forces. Stressing the importance of competent air raid procedures, he set up several observation posts on the Channel coast, which provided a degree of early warning about incoming air raids. Here, whenever German aircraft crossed the Channel, anti-aircraft weaponry, barrage balloons and searchlights were put into action by London’s air defences. Ashmore also encouraged blackouts in London and ensured the effective use of two-way radio in 1918.

In the interwar years, Ashmore played a key role in the development of the Royal Observer Corps. The principles of air defence that Ashmore had developed and implemented in the First World War were used again in the Second World War.

He died in 1953.