Arthur Goschen

Major General Arthur Alec Goschen CB DSO** DL (6 January 1880 – 28 June 1975[1]) was a British Army officer who served as an Area Commander during the Second World War.

Arthur Goschen
Birth nameArthur Alec Goschen
Born(1880-01-06)6 January 1880
Marylebone, London
Died28 June 1975(1975-06-28) (aged 95)
Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service/branchBritish Army
Years of service1899–1938
1939–1941
RankMajor general
Commands heldRoyal Military Academy, Woolwich
Battles/warsSecond Boer War
First World War
Second World War
AwardsCompanion of the Order of the Bath
Distinguished Service Order & Two Bars
Mentioned in Despatches
RelationsGeorge Goschen, 1st Viscount Goschen (uncle)
Sir Edward Goschen (uncle)
Sir Harry Goschen (brother)

Family and education

Goschen was born in London, the child of Henry Goschen (1837–1932) and Augusta Eleanor Shakerley, niece of Sir Charles Shakerley, 1st Baronet.[2] Henry Goschen was the younger brother of George Goschen, 1st Viscount Goschen.[3]

Goschen's great-grandfather was prominent publisher and printer Georg Joachim Göschen of Leipzig, Kingdom of Saxony,[3][4] whose third son Wilhelm Heinrich (William Henry) Göschen (1793–1866) came to England in 1814 and the next year co-founded the merchant banking firm Frühling & Göschen, of Leipzig and London. Wilhelm Heinrich married an English woman and had several children, including George, Charles Hermann, Henry, Alexander Heun[5] and Sir Edward Goschen.[6][7]

He was educated at Eton College. His elder brother was Sir Harry Goschen, 1st Baronet.[3]

Near drowning

On 7 September 1889, the cutter of the schooner Corinne (owned by his uncle Charles Hermann Goschen) was sailing near The Needles, with Arthur Goschen,[8] his sister Eleanor,[9] and crew on board. The cutter was capsized by a sudden gust of wind. The mate of the Corinne, John James Smith Gawn[10] of Ryde, saved the two children but himself drowned.[11][12] Another yachtsman also drowned.[11]

Military career

On 25 June 1899, Goschen was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the Royal Artillery.[13][14] He saw active service in the Second Boer War from 1899 to 1901,[15] was promoted to lieutenant on 16 February 1901[16] and awarded the Distinguished Service Order in September 1901.[17] In 1911, he was serving in Cairo as Captain of J Battery, Royal Horse Artillery.[18] He later served in the First World War as a brigade major for the Home Forces and in France,[13] and was awarded bars to the Distinguished Service Order on 26 September 1917 and 26 July 1918.[19] After instructing at the Senior Officer School and then at the Staff College, Quetta, in India, he was appointed garrison commander and commandant at the Royal Artillery Depot at Woolwich in 1929, Brigadier Royal Artillery at Aldershot Command in 1931, and Commandant of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, in 1934.[13] In 1935, ranking as a Major-General, he was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath.[20] He retired in 1938 but was recalled as an Area Commander for the Chatham Area in 1939 at the start of the Second World War,[21] before retiring again in 1941.[13]

In retirement he became a Deputy Lieutenant for Gloucestershire.[3]

Family

In 1908 Goschen married Marjorie Mary Blacker; they had two sons and three daughters (Grania, Mary Gwendoline, and Diana Marjorie). Both their sons were in the military: Brigadier Geoffrey William Goschen DSO MC* (1911–88), who married Mary, daughter of Lt. Col. Ernest Morrison-Bell; and Captain John Arthur Goschen MC* (1918–41), who was killed in action in the Siege of Tobruk.[3]

Goschen died at Cirencester on 28 June 1975.[21]

References
  1. England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1975
  2. Howard, Joseph Jackson; Crisp, Frederick Arthur (1908). Visitation of England and Wales. Priv. printed. p. 159. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
  3. Mosley, Charles, ed. (2003). Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knighthood (107 ed.). Burke's Peerage & Gentry. p. 1607. ISBN 0-9711966-2-1.
  4. Spinner, Thomas J. (1977). George Joachim Goschen: The Transformation of a Victorian Liberal. CUP Archive. p. 1. ISBN 9780521202107. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
  5. George Joachim Goschen: The Transformation of a Victorian Liberal by Thomas J. Spinner, Jr, Appendix I
  6. "Goschen Publishers and Printer". Saturday Review of Politics, Literature, Science and Art. John W. Parker and Son: 201. 1903. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
  7. Laybourn, Keith (2001). British Political Leaders: A Biographical Dictionary. ABC-CLIO. p. 133. ISBN 9781576070437. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
  8. 1881 England Census, Class: RG11; Piece: 807; Folio: 11; Page: 14; GSU roll: 1341190
  9. 1881 England Census, Class: RG11; Piece: 807; Folio: 11; Page: 14; GSU roll: 1341190
  10. "Graves: John James Smith Gawn". Ryde Social Heritage Group.
  11. "Death of Gawn and Lind" (PDF). Isle of Wight Times and Hampshire Gazette. 12 September 1889.
  12. "This was a man" (PDF). Isle of Wight County Press. 14 September 1889.
  13. Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
  14. Hart´s Annual Army List 1908, page 174
  15. Hart´s Annual Army List 1908, page 203h
  16. Hart´s Annual Army List 1908, page 174
  17. "No. 27359". The London Gazette. 27 September 1901. p. 6308.
  18. 1911 Census; Class: RG14; Piece: 34994; Page: 1
  19. "No. 30813". The London Gazette (Supplement). 26 July 1918. p. 8733.
  20. "No. 34166". The London Gazette (Supplement). 3 June 1935. p. 3595.
  21. "Goschen, Arthur Alec". Generals.dk. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
Military offices
Preceded by
Cyril Wagstaff		 Commandant of the Royal Military Academy Woolwich
1934–1938		 Succeeded by
Philip Neame
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