Duty Nobly Done

Having grown up in East Africa and Mauritius, Lieutenant Colonel Rodney Ashwood was educated in Kenya and at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. Commissioned into the Welch Regiment in 1964, he served in the UK, Hong Kong, Canada, Cyprus, and Germany as well as active service in Northern Ireland. During his career he studied the history of his regimental predecessors who took part in such dramatic conflicts as the Zulu War of 1879 and the Gallipoli campaign of 1915. He took early retirement from the Army in 1993 to become the curator of his regimental museum where he developed his interest in military history further. In 2005 his first book - For Queen and Country, the Zulu War Diary of Lieutenant Wilfred Heaton the 24th Regiment of Foot - was published. Now retired, he lectures regularly on military subjects and he is a member of the Gallipoli Association. He has toured the battlefields of Gallipoli in preparation for this book. He lives with his wife in Brecon and has a son and daughter. His other interests include running a bed and breakfast business, ex-Servicemen's welfare, following equestrian three day events and supporting Welsh rugby football.