Pte 56662 Henry Ashcroft

• Age: 19
• From: Lathom, Lancs
• Regiment: The King's (Liverpool Regiment) 20th Btn
• K.I.A Tuesday 31st July 1917
• Commemorated at: Menin Gate Memorial
  Panel Ref: Panel 4 & 6

Henry Ashcroft was born on 12th March 1898 in Lathom, Lancashire, and was the son of James Ashcroft and his wife Elizabeth (née Barrow). Henry was baptised in Christ Church, Newburgh, on 06th April 1898, his father’s occupation was shown as a boatman, and the family living at Moss Bridge.  His parents were both natives of the area, James born in about 1862, and Elizabeth in 1864.  They married in 1885 at Our Lady & St. Nicholas & St. Anne, Liverpool, and had eight children. Henry had older siblings John, born in 1886, James 1888, Richard 1890, Elizabeth 1893, and Ellen 1895, and younger siblings Mary 1899, and Thomas 1905.

Before Henry’s birth in 1891 his parents were living on the canal boat “Mary” in Burscough on the Leeds to Liverpool Canal. The Leeds & Liverpool Canal was built between 1770 and 1816 to connect the industrial towns of Yorkshire and Lancashire to the port of Liverpool.  West Lancashire had provided boatmen ever since the canal first opened, and families worked on the canal for generations, forming a distinct community.  By the 1870s Burscough had become the centre for those employed in the trade.  Houses, which often included stables, were built alongside the canal for the boatmen.  At the end of the nineteenth century there were over a thousand boats working on the Canal. 

At the time of the 1901 census Henry and four of his siblings are living with their mother in Moss Bridge, Lathom. His mother is 37, listed as a canal boatwoman, Henry is 3.  Also with them is his grandmother Elizabeth Barrow, 76, born in Newburgh.  His father, with sons John and James, is found on the “Mary” in Liverpool.

In 1911 they are living in Maypole Lane, Lathom.  His father James, 49, is a boatman, as is son Richard, 20.   His mother is 47, Elizabeth, 18, and Ellen, 16 are working from home, as is Henry, 13, but occupation not specified.  Mary, 11, and Thomas, 5, are at school.  His mother signed the census form, “for James Ashcroft”.   His eldest brother John, 24, married, is a Master boatman, and James, 22, is a Mate, on Vessel 254, at Canal Wharf, Burnley.

Prior to the outbreak of war he had worked with his father as a boatman. 

He enlisted in Ormskirk and was serving in the 20th Battalion, The King’s Liverpool Regiment as Private No 56662 when he was killed in action on the 31st July 1917, aged 19, during the Third Battle of Ypres. He had been in Belgium for about five weeks prior to his death.

20^th Battalion

On that day, the 89th Brigade was to follow up the attacks of the 21st and 90th Brigades and once their objectives had been taken, to go through them and secure a line of strong points on the German third line. The 89th Brigade line of attack was from the South West corner of Polygon Wood, to the Menin Road. The 17th Battalion, The King’s Liverpool Regiment was on the left of the attack, and the 20th to the right, with the 19th Battalion and the 2nd Battalion, The Bedfordshire Regiment, in Divisional Reserve.

The Battalion moved into assembly positions east of Maple Copse between 05.00 and 05.20am, they were heavily shelled and suffered many casualties. At 07.50 they began to advance with the 17^th Battalion on the left, and the 20^th on the right, the whole time under heavy shell fire. On reaching their position which was the Blue Line , troops of both the 21^st and 90^th Brigades were still pinned down  and thus any attempt at further progress were futile.

At this point a message was sent to Brigade HQ advising that Companies were digging in on and consolidating a line running south from Stirling Castle.

Henry's body was not recovered or was subsequently lost as he has no known grave and is commemorated on the Menin Gate, Belgium.

The site of the Menin Gate was chosen because of the hundreds of thousands of men who passed through it on their way to the battlefields. It commemorates casualties from the forces of Australia, Canada, India, South Africa and United Kingdom who died in the Salient. In the case of United Kingdom casualties, only those prior 16 August 1917 (with some exceptions). United Kingdom and New Zealand servicemen who died after that date are named on the memorial at Tyne Cot, a site which marks the furthest point reached by Commonwealth forces in Belgium until nearly the end of the war. New Zealand casualties that died prior to 16 August 1917 are commemorated on memorials at Buttes New British Cemetery and Messines Ridge British Cemetery.

The YPRES (MENIN GATE) MEMORIAL now bears the names of more than 54,000 officers and men whose graves are not known. The memorial, designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield with sculpture by Sir William Reid-Dick, was unveiled by Lord Plumer on 24 July 1927.

His death was reported in the Liverpool Echo 30th August 1917:

ORMSKIRK DISTRICT CASUALTIES.

Private Henry Ashcroft, son of Mr. James Ashcroft, of Moss Bridge, Lathom, has been killed in France, where had been only for five weeks. He was 19 years of age.

Also in the Ormskirk Advertiser 13th September 1917:

PRIVATE HENRY ASHCROFT

Son of Mr James Ashcroft of Moss Bridge, Lathom, who was killed in action in France on July 31st. He was 19 years of age and attached to the King's Liverpool Regiment. Before enlisting he was a boatman with his father. He had only been out in France for about five weeks. 

His mother Elizabeth received Henry’s Army effects and a War Gratuity of £3.  She was awarded a pension of 4/6d a week from February 1918, her address shown as Moss Bridge. 

His father James, aged 57, died in October 1918, and his mother in 1938 aged 74.

Henry is remembered on the family gravestone in Christ Church, Newburgh, graveyard -

In Loving Memory of

ALSO HENRY ASHCROFT

SON OF THE ABOVE

KILLED IN ACTION AND INTERRED IN FRANCE (sic) JULY 31ST 1917, AGED 19 YEARS 

He is also commemorated on the following Memorials;

St John the Baptist, Burscough

Lathom 

Newburgh

We currently have no further information on Henry Ashcroft, If you have or know someone who may be able to add to the history of this soldier, please contact us.