1900 Apr 11. Born Kingston, Surrey
1901 census at Gatwick, Esher, Surrey
1903 His father's bankruptcy proceedings.
1905 Jul 27 His father released from bankruptcy.
1918 Enters Sandhurst
1919 Jul 16. Leaves Sandhurst. R. Scots.— The undermentioned Gentlemen Cadets from the Royal Military College, to be 2nd Lts., Brenton Haliburton Ashmore
1920. Stationed at Ennistymon 2nd Btn Royal Scots and who was almost definitely involved in the ambush (he says he was in two ambushes and his description of one resembles Moanreel, though he says that he was in the last lorry with other soldiers and Roberts says that there were Tans in the last one). He recorded an interview 62 years later and revealed that he had arrested Willie Shanahan in 1920. The name came tripping off his tongue like it was yesterday and he famously added: "never heard what happened to him afterwards"
1929 Dec 21. R Scots, to be Adjutant B H Ashmore
1930 Jan 15. The undermentioned Lts. to be Capts., under the provisions of Art. Ill, Royal Warrant for Pay and Promotion, 1926:— R. Scots, B. H. Ashmore.
1930 Apr 12. The bankruptcy is still being found
1932 Nov 6. Represents the Royal Scots at a ceremony in Sweden.
1933 Apr/Jun Married Marjorie H Duke
1933 Jun 1. Capt. B. H. Ashmore is restd. to the estabt.
1933 Jun 12. Passes exam for entrance to The Staff College, Camberley
1933 Jul 22. R. Scots—Capt. B. H. Ashmore is seed, for serv. as an Instr., Hythe Wing, Small Arms Sch.
1936 Jul 22. Relinquishes his appointment as an instructor (Class EE appointment) at Small Arms School. Capt B H Ashmore, R Scots.
1936 Oct/Dec A daughter Janet E Ashmore born in Esher
1938 Jan 27. Seconded for service on the Staff. This appears to have been in the Far East. Capt. B. H. Ashmore, R. Scots, to be Bde. Maj., Shanghai Area (temp.).
1939 Jan 13.
1939 Sep 3. On the strength of British Forces in Shanghai
1940 Living in Malaya.
1942 Feb. He was one of Percival's Staff Officers to escape with permission. He was GSO1 (Staff Duties). He made his report when he reached India:
Heavy fighting took place in the Western Area all day of the 10th and 11th February. The AIF had by this time definitely cracked and the roads leading from the West were littered with Australian soldiers in all degrees of demoralisation. Considerable looting of private houses, including my own, took place by these men in search of liquor. The docks were full of them and quite a large number managed to get away. The reason for this 'crack' is difficult to understand as the AIF had fought extremely well in Johore and at the battel of Gemas but there is no doubt whatsoever that something failed. I am of the opinion that it was largely due to lack of discipline. Where discipline is weak it takes very little for a panic to set in.
1942 in Celyon. As Malaya Command HQs Director of Operations and Training and then its GSO I, Lieutenant-Colonel B.H. Ashmore was qualified to comment on its operations and training. He did so in his dispatch, Some Personal Observations of the Malayan Campaign 1940-1942 (1942), written after he had been evacuated to Ceylon. Ashmore noted that Malaya and India Commands emphasized training for desert warfare until 1940 when a manual on jungle warfare was finally issued by each command. However, Percival gave Ashmore only an assistant for training, which was insufficient to ensure that all formations put them into practice. In any case, training at all levels was hindered by many factors - the hot and humid climate, inexperienced officers and NCOs, frequent changes in formation organization, the wide dispersal of troops all over Malaya to perform a great variety of tasks such as building fixed defences, guard key installations and the late arrival of certain weapons, heavy equipment and artillery. In addition, Ashmore lamented the fact that staffwork was patchy as many untrained regular unit officers were brought in to fill vacant positions. In addition, Ashmore criticised Malaya Command's senior commanders for their flawed tendency to remove units from formations and dispatch them to widely separated areas, to launch piecemeal counterattacks without collective cohesion.
1948 Feb 23. R Scots. Ma] B. H Ashmore, OBE (17795), retires on ret pay, and is granted the hon. rank of Col
1950 Jul 15. Combined Cadet Force. Lincoln. Maj. (Hon. Col.) Brenton. Haliburton Ashmore O.B.E. (17795) (Res. of Offrs.), to be Lt., 1950
1951 Jan 29. Colonel Brenton Haliburton Ashmore, OBE, of The Old House, Brant Broughton, Lincolnshire.
1952 Jun 7. R.Scots. Maj. (Hon. Col.) B. H. Ashmore, O.B.E. (17795). having exceeded the age limit of liability to recall, ceases to belong to the Res. of Offrs.
1954 Apr 30. Appointed Deputy Lieutenant of Lincolnshire.
1956 Mar 22. Lincoln. Lt. B. H. Ashmore, O.B.E. (17795), relinquishes his commission.
1966 Mar 1. His son Michael engaged (Michael is Gazetted CBE in Dec 1986, by which time he too is a Colonel)
1987 Jan 21. Died Lincoln. Lt Col. OBE