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Auction: 24002 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 121

(x) '...We are indebted this fine residence to the energy, genius and craftsmanship of Lewis Ashton, the carpenter, who in a hundred other ways has proven himself to be a most valuable member of the expedition.'

High praise indeed, from Op Tabarin’s commander, Lieutenant-Commander James Marr, on his work at Base A, at Port Lockroy, Wiencke Island

The campaign group of four awarded to Seaman L. Ashton, Merchant Navy, who served on 'Operation Tabarin' - the secret Antarctic Expedition from 1944-45

1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star; War Medal 1939-45; Polar 1904, 1 clasp, Antarctic 1944-45 (Lewis Ashton), good very fine (4)

Exhibited:
200 Years of Polar Exploration, Spink, 2019.

Provenance:
City Coins, 1998.

Lewis Ashton - or 'Chippy' to his friends and comrades - served on two Antarctic Expeditions. He was born in London on 10 May 1905, and first went to sea as a 15-year-old Deck Boy. He subsequently qualified as a Carpenter and served in this capacity on the fifth commission of the R.R.S. Discovery II in 1937-39. During this commission the RRS Discovery II (Captain L.C. Hill) circumnavigated the Antarctic during the summer taking observations for comparison with the 1932 winter circumnavigation. A series of repeated observations were made along the Greenwich Meridian and 20°E. The Balleny Islands were visited and roughly charted and a landing was made on the island of Bouvetøya. Plans for a sixth commission in 1939 were scratched with the advent of the Second World War. Ashton saw service in the Merchant Navy and was torpedoed twice while serving on Atlantic Convoys.

Early in 1943 the armed merchant cruiser Carnarvon Castle was sent to the Antarctic ostensibly to look for German ships (surface raiders) and U-boats in the vicinity of the Antarctic Peninsula. Whilst no trace of the Germans was found, several marks of sovereignty left by the Argentinians were. These were obliterated and the British flag raised. This led to the formation of 'Operation Tabarin' - a British secret wartime expedition to enhance Britain's territorial claim to the Peninsula (both Chile and Argentina have overlapping claim with Britain to this region). Ashton was seconded to 'Operation Tabarin' in 1944.

He was responsible for the construction of the bases at Port Lockroy in 1944 and at Hope Bay in 1945. A popular and highly competent member of the Expedition, he made highly detailed 'ships in bottles' in his spare time, which he gave to his companions. For this work with 'Operation Tabarin' he was awarded the Polar Medal (London Gazette, 30 November 1954, refers). Lewis married Olive Storer in Manchester in 1947. He died in 1956, aged 50.

References:
BAS Club Newsletter, No. 47, May 2002 by Gwion "Taff" Davies pages 33 -35.
Operation Tabarin - Britain's Secret Wartime Expedition to Antarctica 1944-46 by Stephen Haddelsey with Alan Carroll, 2014, which features Ashton heavily, a copy of which is included.


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