Ashworth joined the
Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service in 1936, and after training was appointed to the permanent service on 1 April 1937. During the
Second World War, she served in
Algiers, Tunisia and Italy, with a mobile field hospital. She was promoted to
wing officer on 1 January 1958, awarded the
Royal Red Cross in the
1959 Queen's Birthday Honours, and made
group officer on 1 January 1961. On 4 August 1963, she was appointed Matron-in-Chief of the Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service and made an
acting air commandant. She was promoted to air commandant and made an
Honorary Nursing Sister to the Queen on 1 September 1963, and appointed a
Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the
1964 New Year Honours. She stepped down as Matron-in-Chief in 1966, and retired from the Royal Air Force. ==References==