Vice-Admiral Sir Peter William Beckwith Ashmore (4 February 1921 – 31 July 2002) was a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

officer. After retirement from the navy he became

Master of the Household The Master of the Household is the operational head (see Chief operating officer) of the "below stairs" elements of the Royal Households of the United Kingdom. The role has charge of the domestic staff, from the Royal Kitchens, the pages and foot ...

to the

Sovereign ''Sovereign'' is a title which can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word is borrowed from Old French , which is ultimately derived from the Latin , meaning 'above'. The roles of a sovereign vary from monarch, ruler or ...

Early life

Ashmore was the son of Vice-Admiral

Leslie Ashmore Vice Admiral Leslie Haliburton Ashmore, (21 February 1893 – 10 January 1974) was a Royal Navy officer who served as Flag Officer commanding the Reserve Fleet from 1945 to 1947. Naval career Ashmore joined the Royal Navy in 1906 and was promo ...

: he was educated at

Yardley Court Yardley Court is an independent day preparatory school for boys in Tonbridge, Kent, England, founded in 1898 by Mr and Mrs A.L.Bickmore. It now forms part of Somerhill, a public school in the British sense of the term. There are currently around ...

and the

Royal Naval College, Dartmouth Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...

; he joined the

in 1938.

Naval career

On graduation from Dartmouth, Ashmore served in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in the destroyer HMS ''Kipling'' in which he commanded the ship's guns during an operation to rescue survivors from two other British ships off

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

in May 1941. After the War he became Deputy Director of the Royal Navy Staff College at

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

in 1957, Captain (Frigates) of the Dartmouth Training Squadron in 1960 and a member of the Plans Division at the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...

in 1963. He went on to be Flag Officer,

Admiralty Interview Board The Admiralty Interview Board (AIB) is an assessment centre, tracing its roots to 1903, that is used by the Naval Service as part of the officer selection process for the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Royal Naval Reserve, Royal Marines Reserve, a ...

in 1966, Chief of Staff of the

Western Fleet The Red Sea Fleet Command or officially Western Fleet (WF), also called ''" West Coast Fleet ",'' is a regional naval fleet and one of the two main formations of the Saudi Arabian Navy, with headquarters at Royal Naval Base at Jeddah, Western Pr ...

and to

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

Commander-in-Chief Eastern Atlantic in 1967 and Chief of the Allied Staff at Headquarters

Allied Naval Forces Southern Europe Allied Naval Forces Southern Europe (NAVSOUTH) was a Component Command in NATO's Allied Forces Southern Europe (AFSOUTH). Between 1951 and 1953, after the establishment of AFSOUTH, Commander-in-Chief Allied Forces Southern Europe, initially Admi ...

in 1970 before he retired in 1972. In retirement Ashmore was

to the

. His elder brother was Admiral Sir

Edward Ashmore Admiral of the Fleet Sir Edward Beckwith Ashmore, (11 December 1919 – 28 April 2016) was a senior Royal Navy officer. He saw active service in the Second World War and later commanded two frigates before achieving high command in the Navy. ...

who became Admiral of the Fleet and Chief of the Defence Staff.The Times - obituary 18 May 2016

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashmore, Peter Royal Navy vice admirals 1921 births 2002 deaths Masters of the Household Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom)