20 Facts About James Ashworth

Lance Corporal James Thomas Duane Ashworth was a British soldier and posthumous recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

James Ashworth was killed in Afghanistan on 13 June 2012 as he led his fire team in an attack on an enemy-held compound.

James Ashworth lived and grew up in Corby, Northamptonshire, where he attended Lodge Park Technology College.

In 2006, aged 17, James Ashworth joined the British Army following his father who had previously served in the Grenadier Guards.

James Ashworth trained at the Infantry Training Centre in Catterick before being posted to Nijmegen Company, Grenadier Guards, which is focused on public duties and state ceremonial events in London.

James Ashworth was identified as being capable of becoming a paratrooper and was assigned to the Guards' Parachute Platoon, which is part of 3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment.

James Ashworth was deployed to Canada before joining the Reconnaissance Platoon for Operation Herrick 16.

On 13 June 2012, James Ashworth was serving as part of the Reconnaissance Platoon, 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards.

James Ashworth was on a patrol in the Nahri Saraj District of Helmand Province, Afghanistan.

James Ashworth was leading a fire-team, clearing out compounds, when his team came under fire from Taliban armed with rifles and rocket-propelled grenades from several mud huts.

James Ashworth charged the huts, providing cover for his team who followed in single file behind him.

James Ashworth crawled forward under cover of a low wall while his team provided covering fire and acted as a diversion.

On 16 March 2013, British media reported that James Ashworth was to be posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for bravery and this was confirmed by the Ministry of Defence on 18 March 2013.

James Ashworth's citation was read out at the Grenadier Guards' barracks in Aldershot.

James Ashworth was only the second person to be awarded the medal during the Taliban insurgency, after Bryan Budd for his actions in 2006.

James Ashworth is the 14th person to be awarded the Victoria Cross since the end of the Second World War.

James Ashworth realised that the stalemate needed to be broken, and broken quickly.

James Ashworth identified a low wall that ran parallel to the front of the outbuilding from which the insurgent was firing.

James Ashworth played football both for his regiment and for a local team near his home.

James Ashworth has two sisters and two brothers, one of whom is a soldier.