THE MOTHER OF LANCE CORPORAL JAMES ASHWORTH, GRENADIER GUARDS, ACCEPTED HER SON'S VICTORIA CROSS AT A CEREMONY AT BUCKINGHAM PALACE. |
---|
22 May 2013 |
A POSTHUMOUS VICTORIA CROSS HAS BEEN AWARDED TO LANCE CORPORAL JAMES ASHWORTH, 1ST BN, GRENADIER GUARDS, FOR ACTION IN AFGHANISTAN |
---|
22 March 2013 |
![]() |
A posthumous Victoria Cross has been awarded to Lance Corporal James Ashworth, 1st Bn, Grenadier Guards. The award was for an extraordinary act of heroism in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Lance Corporal Ashworth was serving with a reconnaissance platoon in the Nahr-e-Saraj district on the 13th June 2012 where his platoon was fighting a series of battles inside enemy compounds with Taliban insurgents when he was killed by the enemy. The commander of the Reconnaissance Platoon, Nijmegen Company, 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards said Lance Corporal Ashworth sacrificed his life to save those of his colleagues. "He was killed while fighting his way through compounds, leading his fire team from the front whilst trying to protect his men and he showed extraordinary courage to close on a determined enemy." |
For the award of the Victoria Cross [ London Gazette, 22 March 2013 ], Nahr-e-Saraj District, Afghanistan, 13 June 2012, Lance Corporal James Ashworth, 1st Bn, Grenadier Guards.
Lance Corporal James Ashworth and his platoon had been inserted into the area by air on 13th June 2012 for a military operation to neutralise an insurgent sniper team, when they came under immediate fire as soon as they landed.
James Ashworth's body was brought home to the United Kingdom and was buried in the Shire Lodge Cemetery, Corby, Northamptonshire. |
Iain Stewart, 22 March 2013