Ashwell Remembers
By Sally Harnett. Published by the author. Price £10.
Available from the author at ashwellpc@gmail.com
Compiled and published by Ashwell resident, Sally Harnett, this Spiegl produced book is being sold
with the proceeds being donated to the Air Ambulance. It was produced as a result of interest
generated from an exhibition in Ashwell to commemorate the centenary of the First World War. It
draws upon George Phillips’ ‘Rutland and the Great War’ and local press reports gleaned from The
British Newspaper Archive, supplemented by information from the writings of Tony Traylen, Caroline
Aston, and local reminiscences. In addition, the compiler has added some war poetry and material
relating to animals in war.
The exploits of Rev. Adams, Ashwell’s 1879 Afghan War Victoria Cross holder, are recorded. Additional
material has been found to supplement Phillips’ entries to record individuals and details he omitted.
Michael Doyle was able to help provide a record of Lyonel Jacobsen, not previously recorded in
Ashwell’s entries, and the author goes someway to help disentangle the complicated family tree of
the Whalley family of Ashwell Lodge, to whom Jacobsen was related.
Complementing the section on the First World War is a section recording the Ashwell fallen in the
Second World War. There is no equivalent of Phillips to record Rutland’s contribution in this war, so
this new material is most welcome. It includes pieces on Cecil Brewster killed by the Germans in the
Wormhoudt Massacre before Dunkirk in 1940, and on Aircraftman Cyril Bailey drowned in the sinking
of the Troopship ‘Anselm’; in 1941.
This small publication highlights the need, using modern research methods, to bring Phillips up to
date for the First World War, complementing it with material relating to the Second World War, a task
this publication does for one Rutland Village.
PD