Private Albert Ashbaugh
757835
Enlisted with the 120th Hamilton Battalion
Served with the 116th Battalion
Died of Wounds at Passchendaele on Oct 27, 1917
Buried at Oxford Road British Cemetery
Every summer, the wooden propellers affixed to the nose of the craft chug into operation. The rhythmic hum reverberates over the watching crowd of onlookers causing smiles to instantly appear upon their faces of the onlookers. It is like getting the chance to see something new be created. The plane is a Sopwith 1 ½ Strutter and is from the Great War Flying Museum located just north of Brampton, ON. It is participating in one of the airshows held at the Warplane Heritage Museum located at the Hamilton International Airport. The original crafts were participants in the air war that took place over the Western Front and the modern replica versions help us remember what it may have been like to see or feel a plane from over a century ago. These shows attract tens of thousands of visitors every year and the growth in interest and support does tend to be successful in helping the next generation remember the service and sacrifice of those who piloted those machines back in the Great War. The airshow showcases a host of airplanes dating from WW2 era up to the present…all designed to help educate us and perpetuate the memory of those national heroes who piloted them in our stead during conflicts of the past.
In this spirit of remembrance, individuals planning their next visit to the Warplane Heritage Museum should include a side trip on their itinerary. It will not cost them anything and it is hidden in plain view from the airport…mere steps away in a place called the Mt. Hope Cemetery. Besides containing the final resting spots of pilots killed while engaged in training exercises during WW2, it also contains the memorial grave marker for two Canadian heroes who were actual participants in the Great War. Silently resting in the shadow of the airplanes circling overhead is a stone with the surname, Ashbaugh etched in granite. It details the names of two brothers who did not return home from the war…their names were Vernon and Albert Ashbaugh. Here is their story.
It was less than two months after the echoes of the guns first reverberated across the ocean when he made the decision to enlist. By the date of his enlistment, Oct 14th, 1914, over 300,000 Frenchmen had already fallen in battle…27,000 men killed on one day alone. The British contingent was desperately attempted to hold back the German behemoth at Mons and the Marne. A wave of men from across Canada with British roots, immediately flocked to recruitment stations to join up for the cause. One of these soldier’s was a gent from a community just outside of Hamilton. His name was Vernon Alexander Ashbaugh. At 25 years old, he was the youngest son of James and Isabella. Vernon travelled to Toronto, proceeded to the Exhibition Grounds and joined up with the 19th Battalion. The 19th was to serve with the Second Canadian Division of the CEF. It took almost a year for the 2nd Division to become organized and wasn’t until September of 1915 when they landed in England. It was around this time when he came to learn that his father, James had just passed away. His mother, Isabella had died 6 years earlier.
At this same time back in Canada, Vernon’s older brother Albert was serving with a Canadian militia regiment, the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry Wentworth Regiment aka the 13th Regiment. His was married to a young lady named Anna and was working as a crane operator in Hamilton, now a bustling centre of industry. Being a natural potential enlistee for the cause, as the recruitment drives were ramping up across the country, on February 12, 1916 Albert joined the 120th Hamilton Battalion. The 120th were made up of men from the Hamilton areas and was perpetuated by the 13th Wentworth Regiment. Albert’s unit completed some training in Canada but was transported to in England in August of that year. By this time of the war, the hospitals in England and cemeteries in France were being overloaded with British soldiers. The Battles of the Somme had kicked off on July 1st and quickly became a bloodbath, costing the British Army’s hundreds of thousands of men. Albert would soon come to learn that his own brother, Vernon would be counted amongst the casualties from this colossal event. Approximately two weeks after Albert arrived in England, Vernon and the 19th Battalion was moving towards the front lines in the northern portion of the Somme sector at Thiepval. Vernon would turn out to be one of the first men from his unit to be injured in the context…incurring shrapnel wounds to his leg and hip from an exploding shell.
The Lance Sergeant was spirited away to England for care. As happened far too often in the war, the injury sustained by Vernon became infected and his conditioned slowly and continuously deteriorated. On the 9thof November 1916, Lance Sergeant Vernon Alexander Ashbaugh (55779) succumbed to his injuries. He was buried in Elham, England at Shorncliffe Military Cemetery.
Building upon his 10 years spent serving in the 13thWentworth Regiment, Albert Ashbaugh rose to the rank of Sergeant with the 120thBattalion. After spending a year training in England, in August 1917 Albert and a number of men from his unit were transferred to the 116th. The 116th has just experienced its’ baptism of fire with a full Battalion raid on German trench positions at Avion. While the raid was considered highly successful it also proved very costly with 37 men being killed in action and losing another 45 injured, wounded or gassed. Through this transfer to the 116th, Albert would help to replenish the men lost to the Battalion from the raid. With this move, Albert reverted to his permanent rank of Private and quickly tried to settle into his new unit. However, within days the 116th was ordered to move to the Lens Sector where they joined the front lines of the Battle for Hill 70 already in progress. They relieved the 43rd Battalion which has incurred significant losses from their participation in the ongoing operation.
While Private Ashbaugh made it through Hill 70, two months later the battalion joined the complete array of divisions in Currie’s CEF to help close out the Battle of Passchendaele for the Allies. On the 26th of October, the 116th moved into position and acted as carrying parties bringing war materials and supplies to the front-line troops. The next day they were sent in to relieve the units of the 43rd, 52ndand 58th Battalion. While digging into the mud-soaked hellscape and desperately trying to survive, the private soldier was on the wrong end of an exploding German shell. He was hit with shrapnel in both legs. Stretcher bearers were summoned, and the brave souls desperately attempted to save his life, dragging him to care stations in the rear. Tragically, later that day Private Albert Ashbaugh died while being attended to at the casualty clearing station. He is buried amongst 9 other men from the 116th at the Oxford Road British Cemetery.
Remember them…and the next time you visit the Warplane Heritage Museum make sure you stop off at the Mt Hope Cemetery and thank Vernon and Albert for their service and sacrifice.