Edward Noel Ashley Oral History Interview

IdentifierNHF_WC_2016_Ashley_Edward_Noel

DateFebruary 22 2016

Description Ashley was an electrician and engineer on naval vessels in the Pacific theater during World War II. He and his unit were involved in many notable battles across the Philippine and Japanese islands, but perhaps his most vivid stories come from the consequential Battle of Leyte Gulf. Fought in October of 1944 around and on the island of Leyte, some historians consider it to be the largest naval battle in World War II. Amidst all of that drama, Ashley found himself playing an important role in beach invasion of Leyte. Ashley served on the USS Carter Hall, dock landing ship which had the capacity to carry smaller amphibious vessels in its weld deck. Their objective at Leyte was to get the landing craft as close to the beach as possible in order to get troops on the ground. However, calamity struck as they approached the beach. The Australian landing craft vessels got stuck in the weld deck and were unable to head towards the beach. With hundreds of troops sitting helplessly in their ships and exposed to enemy fire, Ashley and the other engineers had to jump into action to save the mission. While they were freeing the Australian vessels, Ashley’s ship had to fend off kamikaze pilots. One pilot was captured after he failed to hit his target.

Material TypeDigital

Duration37m 57s

Preferred CitationEdward Noel Ashley, Interview, National Home Front Project, Washington College, Chestertown Maryland.

ProvenanceInterview was recorded by Marah Tarawneh through Washington College for the Starr Center of the American Experience National Homefront Project.

GeonamesChestertown, Kent, Maryland, United States, NA [39.209,-76.06661] [id:4351264]San Francisco, San Francisco County, California, United States, NA [37.77493,-122.41942] [id:5391959]Oakland, Alameda, California, United States, NA [37.80437,-122.2708] [id:5378538]Shanghai, Shanghai, China, AS [31.16667,121.41667] [id:1796231]Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan, AS [35.6895,139.69171] [id:1850144]