Frederick Gough
Encyclopedia
Colonel Charles Frederick Howard Gough, MC
, TD
(16 September 1901 – 19 September 1977) was a British
Territorial Army officer, company director and politician.
and then enrolled in the Naval College at Osborne House (where he won an 'Honourable Mention' in 1915). He then went to the Royal Naval College
at Dartmouth
. However, Gough disliked the Royal Navy
and after three years serving as a Midshipman on HMS Ramillies
and HMS Witherington, he left.
-breeding in India
(his father had been a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Indian Army and he had been born there at Kasauli
), Gough returned to Britain after two years to join a firm of insurance brokers affiliated with Lloyds of London. He became a director of several companies.
for Finland
and was a member of the Scots Guards
5th Battalion who were trained in skiing
. On his return he was posted to GHQ in France but was immediately caught up in the evacuation of Dunkirk
where he was mentioned in despatches (he managed to get back to Britain on 1 June 1940).
He was then trained as a parachutist, and became the first person to be issued with the Royal Aero Club Parachutist Certificate. He was placed in command of the 1st Airborne Reconnaissance Squadron. The Squadron worked in North Africa and Italy in 1943, for which Gough won the Military Cross
in connection with the landing at Taranto
. In September 1944 he fought at the Battle of Arnhem
, briefly commanding the forces at Arnhem Bridge after Lieutenant Colonel John Frost
was injured. He was taken prisoner when the force was overrun, but he escaped in April 1945 and joined up with American forces in Bavaria
.
, and fought Lewisham South
against Herbert Morrison
in the 1950 general election
. He was President of the South Lewisham Conservative Association for the next twenty years.
Gough was elected as Member of Parliament
for Horsham
. In Parliament Gough was particularly loyal to the Conservative government, especially over Suez
. He particularly stood up for the interests of ex-servicemen, and was Chairman of the Royal Aero Club from 1958 to 1968. As the new town of Crawley
was built in his constituency, Gough praised it as a success.
Gough announced his retirement from Parliament in March 1962, and left Parliament at the 1964 general election
. He was Chairman of the Horsham Conservative Association from 1964 to 1970. Having been a prodigious correspondent to various newspapers, he found he had more time to contribute.
, then Labour MP for Buckingham
, over a letter which Gough had written to the Illustrated London News
inviting the editor of that newspaper to say whether Maxwell had been awarded the Military Cross. Gough apologised for the letter, accepting that it could be interpreted as suggesting Maxwell was falsely claiming the award.
out of the leadership in 1965. He lived to see the release of the film A Bridge Too Far, which he described as "[playing] ducks and drakes with historical facts in order to dish up an extravaganza fit for the American massed cinema market".
Military Cross
The Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....
, TD
Territorial Decoration
The Territorial Decoration was a medal of the United Kingdom awarded for long service in the Territorial Force and its successor, the Territorial Army...
(16 September 1901 – 19 September 1977) was a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Territorial Army officer, company director and politician.
Navy education
Gough was educated at Cheam SchoolCheam School
Cheam School is a preparatory school in Headley in the civil parish of Ashford Hill with Headley in the English county of Hampshire. It was founded in 1645 by the Reverend George Aldrich in Cheam, Surrey and has been in operation ever since....
and then enrolled in the Naval College at Osborne House (where he won an 'Honourable Mention' in 1915). He then went to the Royal Naval College
Britannia Royal Naval College
Britannia Royal Naval College is the initial officer training establishment of the Royal Navy, located on a hill overlooking Dartmouth, Devon, England. While Royal Naval officer training has taken place in the town since 1863, the buildings which are seen today were only finished in 1905, and...
at Dartmouth
Dartmouth, Devon
Dartmouth is a town and civil parish in the English county of Devon. It is a tourist destination set on the banks of the estuary of the River Dart, which is a long narrow tidal ria that runs inland as far as Totnes...
. However, Gough disliked the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
and after three years serving as a Midshipman on HMS Ramillies
HMS Ramillies (07)
HMS Ramillies was a Revenge-class battleship of the Royal Navy, named after the Battle of Ramillies. The ship is notable for having served in both the First and Second World Wars...
and HMS Witherington, he left.
Business
Originally intending to go into farming and horseHorse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
-breeding in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
(his father had been a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Indian Army and he had been born there at Kasauli
Kasauli
Kasauli is a cantonment and town, located in Solan district in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. The cantonment was established by the British Raj in 1842 as a Colonial hill station, from Shimla, from Chandigarh, and from Panchkula, and lies at a height of .-Demographics:According to the...
), Gough returned to Britain after two years to join a firm of insurance brokers affiliated with Lloyds of London. He became a director of several companies.
Second World War
In 1924 Gough joined the London Rifle Brigade of the Territorial Army where he served for five years. He rejoined the same Brigade on the outbreak of the Second World War and served throughout. He fought in the Winter WarWinter War
The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939 – three months after the start of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Poland – and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty...
for Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
and was a member of the Scots Guards
Scots Guards
The Scots Guards is a regiment of the Guards Division of the British Army, whose origins lie in the personal bodyguard of King Charles I of England and Scotland...
5th Battalion who were trained in skiing
Skiing
Skiing is a recreational activity using skis as equipment for traveling over snow. Skis are used in conjunction with boots that connect to the ski with use of a binding....
. On his return he was posted to GHQ in France but was immediately caught up in the evacuation of Dunkirk
Operation Dynamo
The Dunkirk evacuation, commonly known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, code-named Operation Dynamo by the British, was the evacuation of Allied soldiers from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, France, between 26 May and the early hours of 3 June 1940, because the British, French and Belgian troops were...
where he was mentioned in despatches (he managed to get back to Britain on 1 June 1940).
He was then trained as a parachutist, and became the first person to be issued with the Royal Aero Club Parachutist Certificate. He was placed in command of the 1st Airborne Reconnaissance Squadron. The Squadron worked in North Africa and Italy in 1943, for which Gough won the Military Cross
Military Cross
The Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....
in connection with the landing at Taranto
Operation Slapstick
Operation Slapstick was the code name for a British landing from the sea at the Italian port of Taranto during the Second World War. The operation, one of three landings during the Allied invasion of Italy, was undertaken by the British 1st Airborne Division in September 1943.Planned at short...
. In September 1944 he fought at the Battle of Arnhem
Battle of Arnhem
The Battle of Arnhem was a famous Second World War military engagement fought in and around the Dutch towns of Arnhem, Oosterbeek, Wolfheze, Driel and the surrounding countryside from 17–26 September 1944....
, briefly commanding the forces at Arnhem Bridge after Lieutenant Colonel John Frost
John Dutton Frost
Major General John Dutton Frost CB, DSO & Bar, MC, DL was a British airborne officer best known for being the leader of the small group of airborne forces that actually got to Arnhem bridge during the Battle of Arnhem...
was injured. He was taken prisoner when the force was overrun, but he escaped in April 1945 and joined up with American forces in Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
.
Post-war
After demobilisation in 1945, Gough commanded the 11th Parachute Battalion, in the Territorial Army from February 1947 to 1948. He then decided to go into politics as a ConservativeConservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
, and fought Lewisham South
Lewisham South (UK Parliament constituency)
Lewisham South was a parliamentary constituency in Lewisham, London which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1950 until it was abolished for the February 1974 general election.- Boundaries :...
against Herbert Morrison
Herbert Morrison
Herbert Stanley Morrison, Baron Morrison of Lambeth, CH, PC was a British Labour politician; he held a various number of senior positions in the Cabinet, including Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister.-Early life:Morrison was the son of a police constable and was born in...
in the 1950 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1950
The 1950 United Kingdom general election was the first general election ever after a full term of a Labour government. Despite polling over one and a half million votes more than the Conservatives, the election, held on 23 February 1950 resulted in Labour receiving a slim majority of just five...
. He was President of the South Lewisham Conservative Association for the next twenty years.
Parliament
At the 1951 general electionUnited Kingdom general election, 1951
The 1951 United Kingdom general election was held eighteen months after the 1950 general election, which the Labour Party had won with a slim majority of just five seats...
Gough was elected as Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Horsham
Horsham (UK Parliament constituency)
Horsham is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.- Boundaries :...
. In Parliament Gough was particularly loyal to the Conservative government, especially over Suez
Suez Crisis
The Suez Crisis, also referred to as the Tripartite Aggression, Suez War was an offensive war fought by France, the United Kingdom, and Israel against Egypt beginning on 29 October 1956. Less than a day after Israel invaded Egypt, Britain and France issued a joint ultimatum to Egypt and Israel,...
. He particularly stood up for the interests of ex-servicemen, and was Chairman of the Royal Aero Club from 1958 to 1968. As the new town of Crawley
Crawley
Crawley is a town and local government district with Borough status in West Sussex, England. It is south of Charing Cross, north of Brighton and Hove, and northeast of the county town of Chichester, covers an area of and had a population of 99,744 at the time of the 2001 Census.The area has...
was built in his constituency, Gough praised it as a success.
Gough announced his retirement from Parliament in March 1962, and left Parliament at the 1964 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1964
The United Kingdom general election of 1964 was held on 15 October 1964, more than five years after the preceding election, and thirteen years after the Conservative Party had retaken power...
. He was Chairman of the Horsham Conservative Association from 1964 to 1970. Having been a prodigious correspondent to various newspapers, he found he had more time to contribute.
Libel action
Gough was issued with a writ for libel in November 1967 by Robert MaxwellRobert Maxwell
Ian Robert Maxwell MC was a Czechoslovakian-born British media proprietor and former Member of Parliament , who rose from poverty to build an extensive publishing empire...
, then Labour MP for Buckingham
Buckingham (UK Parliament constituency)
Buckingham is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-Boundaries:...
, over a letter which Gough had written to the Illustrated London News
Illustrated London News
The Illustrated London News was the world's first illustrated weekly newspaper; the first issue appeared on Saturday 14 May 1842. It was published weekly until 1971 and then increasingly less frequently until publication ceased in 2003.-History:...
inviting the editor of that newspaper to say whether Maxwell had been awarded the Military Cross. Gough apologised for the letter, accepting that it could be interpreted as suggesting Maxwell was falsely claiming the award.
A Bridge Too Far
In April 1974, Gough said that in retrospect it was a mistake for the Conservative Party to have forced Sir Alec Douglas-HomeAlec Douglas-Home
Alexander Frederick Douglas-Home, Baron Home of the Hirsel, KT, PC , known as The Earl of Home from 1951 to 1963 and as Sir Alec Douglas-Home from 1963 to 1974, was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from October 1963 to October 1964.He is the last...
out of the leadership in 1965. He lived to see the release of the film A Bridge Too Far, which he described as "[playing] ducks and drakes with historical facts in order to dish up an extravaganza fit for the American massed cinema market".