- Author
- Date, John C., RANVR (Rtd)
- Subjects
- Biographies and personal histories
- Tags
-
- RAN Ships
- HMAS Canberra I, HMAS Shropshire, HMAS Australia II
- Publication
- September 2001 edition of the Naval Historical Review (all rights reserved)
In the company of Cedric Ashton one covers a tranquillity of life – artist, musician, sailor and a man’s man of capital ship dimensions!
Cedric spent his teenage years in the beautiful Sydney suburb of Mosman, learning the perfection of sailing on the waters of Balmoral. It was there in the early nineteen thirties that Cedric and I had first met.
In 1940, when the call to arms was so real in World War II, it was therefore only natural, for Cedric, then playing cellist with the Monte Carlo Ballet in Sydney and Melbourne, to join the Royal Australian Navy as a bandsman.
As Cedric told the story to me, after a period of training at the RAN Flinders Naval Depot, he noticed that his fellow volunteers were receiving drafts but he was being by-passed! A request to clear his position with the Commander brought an acknowledgement from the musical director that because of his outstanding musical talent, he was being retained to play in the prestigious band of the establishment. However, the Commander understandingly conceded to Cedric’s request and soon he was on draft to the cruiser HMAS Canberra, serving from February 14, 1941 to December 9, 1941, in doing his bit for his country.
Cedric was to experience a great deal of action in service as ensuing duties took him to two other heavy class cruisers HMAS Australia January 26, 1942 to October 27 1942 and HMAS Shropshire April 20, 1943 to April 13 1945 – from the Battle of the Coral Sea to the Battles of Leyte and Surigao Strait in the Philippines.
My next encounter with Cedric was on board the cruiser HMAS Shropshire in 1943, when as assistant bandmaster he was presenting light classical interludes in the ship’s recreational area and torpedo space much to the delight of the ship’s company and I can assure you that Cedric’s brilliance in both musical selection and conducting always had a crowded audience.
Cedric’s action station as a bandsman was in the Transmitting Station, which is a gunnery communication centre situated six decks down in the bowels of the ship. It was here that calculations from range finding of an enemy’s position were plotted and with complex adjustments a true elevation and gun traverse were given for the firing of the ship’s main armament. Such was the daunting service experienced by Cedric.
Apart from his naval duties Cedric continually sketched and painted graphic scenes of naval engagements and ship board life which will forever portray events of our naval heritage.
Cedric’s generosity knew no bounds. In 1944, Cedric had completed a beautiful oil painting of Shropshire at anchor in Humbolt Bay, in the then territory of Dutch New Guinea, and to satisfy my great admiration of the picture and love for art I was able to acquire this master piece for the princely sum of seven shillings and six pence! That translates into seventy five cents in decimal currency. Such generosity! Cedric when again calling upon me recently, had the pleasure of knowing that the painting still graces my home today.
While serving in the cruiser HMAS Australia, Cedric was asked by the Captain to do a painting suitable for presentation to the Admiral at a special dinner gathering of just four people. The resulting classic depicted the aide-de-camp, turned away in disgrace, being truly ‘under the weather’, much to the amusement of the onlookers – the Admiral, Captain and Commander. The caption told the story… “only seamen old and able may drink the Admiral out at the table.”
In a later painting Cedric had brought to life the mortal throes of HMAS Canberra, on fire and just prior to her sinking, in the Battle of Savo Island in the Solomons. This oil painting, so dramatic in style, is featured in colour in Cedric’s autobiography titled… “Memoirs: Mostly Musical”.
In exhibiting professional excellence, artistic warmth in music and fine art, Cedric Ashton had endeared himself to all to whom he had come in contact and all had benefited richly from his charming personality.