Peter Ashmore [15564] ^13,27

  General Notes:

Vice-Admiral Sir Peter Ashmore Distinguished naval officer who found unwanted fame as Master of the Household when an intruder broke into the Queen's bedroom

THE MOST famous incident in Vice-Admiral Sir Peter Ashmore’s 13 years as Master of the Queen’s Household occurred early in the morning on July 9, 1982, when a casual worker in the building trade, Michael Fagan, broke into Buckingham Palace for the second time in a few weeks, and sat talking to the Queen in her bedroom. It was after climbing into an office of Ashmore’s that Fagan reached the Royal chambers, gaining access through a window that had been opened by a housemaid. The Queen was apparently unruffled by the incident. But it was later revealed in a Home Office report, which exposed a number of errors by police and breakdowns in security, that Fagan had planned to commit suicide in front of her. He was tried at the Old Bailey for stealing half a bottle of wine during his first break-in, a few weeks previously, but was found not guilty. As Master of the Queen’s Household, a position he held from 1973 until 1986, Ashmore was responsible for the domestic staff and all the daily details of looking after the Queen, whom he often consulted about arrangements within the Palace. His long period of loyal personal service followed a distinguished naval career, during which he spent two years as naval equerry to King George VI. Peter William Beckwith Ashmore was born in 1921. His father, afterwards Vice-Admiral L. H. Ashmore, CB, DSO, married his mother, Tamara Vasilevna Schutt, the sister of a Russian naval officer, at Balaclava in the Crimea, six weeks after meeting her during the brutal civil war between White Russians and Bolsheviks in 1919. Peter’s elder brother Edward is also a distinguished naval officer, attaining the rank of Admiral of the Fleet and serving as First Sea Lord and Chief of Defence Staff. Joining the Navy at Dartmouth in 1934, Peter Ashmore swiftly made his mark by winning the King’s Gold Medal as the best cadet, before going to sea in 1938. His first ship was the cruiser Dorsetshire on the China station which, on the outbreak of war, was sent to the Indian Ocean to look for German pocket battleships. Back in England, after taking the statutory courses for sub-lieutenant and winning the prize for coming top out of 350 officers, he was appointed to the destroyer Kipling in January 1941. One of six ships in the 5th destroyer flotilla led by Captain Lord Louis Mountbatten in the Kelly, the Kipling went to the Mediterranean and was employed harassing Axis shippping, escorting Malta convoys and bombarding Benghazi. In May, the flotilla was part of the large naval force that successfully prevented a seaborne component reaching Crete in what was a mainly airborne invasion by the Germans, an attack which, while ultimately successful in driving out the Allies, was so expensive that the Germans never tried another paratroop operation of like size. The air support provided for the campaign sank and damaged many Royal Navy warships; the safe evacuation of more than half the ground troops was, in Admiral Cunningham’s words, "a disastrous period in our naval history" but one which preserved the navy’s reputation for tenacity and courage. Possession of Maleme airfield on the north coast was a critical factor. Lord Louis was ordered to bombard it during the night of May 23 and evade at high speed before dawn. On the way back to Alexandria, three of the flotilla were attacked by 24 dive-bombers, sinking the Kelly and Kashmir. Kipling rescued 279 survivors, but her first lieutenant was killed and Ashmore took control of the ship’s armament. Surviving further attacks by 40 more aircraft, she eventually made Alexandria under tow having run out of fuel 60 miles offshore. Ashmore was awarded the DSC for his part in these daunting events. He was mentioned in dispatches for his contribution to the sinking of a U-boat off Tobruk. Kipling was one of the six destroyers that, during Admiral Vian’s Battle of Sirte, one of the most brilliant naval actions of the war, carried out torpedo attacks to within 6,000 yards of an Italian battleship and cruisers — "one of the most stirring events of my war". Kipling was among the many destroyers sunk in 1942; there was a glut of survivors at Alexandria, and as Ashmore wryly remarked later, the qualification of being sunk twice before being sent back home was waived in his case. He was first appointed to the destroyer Melbreak operating in the Channel and then in 1943 to the new cruiser Royalist flagship of a group of escort carriers. Royalist and her carriers took part in the immobilisation of the battleship Tirpitz in Altenfiord, then moved to the Mediterranean to support the landings in the south of France and the subsequent clearance of the Aegean. As first lieutenant of the destroyer Tartar, Ashmore saw action in the Far East in operations against the Japanese in Sumatra and Sabang, sinking a submarine chaser. Ashmore was again mentioned in dispatches. From January 1946 he served for two years as naval equerry to King George VI, accompanying the Royal Family on their tour of South Africa in 1947. Further sea-time and command of the frigate Lock Fada was followed by appointment to the staff of the Naval College at Dartmouth, a tour that was shortened by his early promotion to commander. His career thereafter was very much orientated towards officer training and career management. As well as personnel selection and policy appointments in the ministry, he commanded the cadet training carrier Triumph and the squadron of frigates allocated to officer training. A keen and energetic games player, he was noted for his speed and at one athletic event, as the captain and aged 33, outran the entire ship’s company of Triumph as well as the 250 embarked cadets. After an influential posting as the director of naval plans, he was promoted to rear admiral and appointed Chief of Staff to the Western Fleet in the headquarters at Northwood, Middlesex. His final three years as a vice-admiral and Chief of Staff to the Nato Commander-in-Chief Allied Forces Mediterranean in Malta were made more interesting by the accession to power of Dom Mintoff, who ordered Nato out of the island. A new headquarters had to be found at Naples and the regional command and control re-established. Ashmore was appointed KCB in 1972. The First Sea Lord offered him promotion to full admiral and appointment to Brussels as Britain’s senior military representative. But having previously accepted from the Queen the post of Master of the Royal Household, he took up these duties in March 1973 and gave inestimable personal service to Her Majesty until a second retirement in 1986. He was appointed KCVO in 1980. He is survived by his wife, Patricia, whom he married in 1952, and their three daughters and a son Vice-Admiral Sir Peter Ashmore, KCVO, KCB, DSC, Chief of Allied Staff, Nato Southern Europe, 1970-72, and Master of the Royal Household 1973-86, was born February 4, 1921. He died on July 31, 2002, aged 81.

  Death Notes:

Vice-Admiral Sir Peter William Beckwith Ashmore, KCB, KCVO, DSC, : Master of the Household to Queen Elizabeth II, 1973-86, and an Extra : Equerry to Her Majesty from 1952, died 31 July, 2002. He was 81.

Peter married Living