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| 17 Apr 2019 | |
| History |
Captain H. W. Golding HS (1907-10) was the elder son of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Cecil Golding, of Tonbridge. Until the outbreak of war, Golding was on the Stock Exchange, enlisting in August 1914. He was considered unfit for an Infantry commission owing to a weak leg, which dated from infancy and had prevented his playing football at Tonbridge and made running an impossibility for him and marching a strain. He was later commissioned in the Army Service Corps and arrived in France in September 1916. His unit was sent straight into the thick of the great Battle of Loos, which he survived, as well as the Battle of the Somme in 1916, and the winter of 1917, when his unit was once more in the neighbourhood of Ypres. He obtained his Captaincy in February 1917, and was mentioned in Sir Douglas Haig's November Despatch for distinguished and gallant services and devotion to duty with the Army Service Corps. Active service had improved his general physique, and after serving at the Front for 2 and a half years, he was passed as fit for service with the Infantry. Sadly, within 12 days of the signing of the Armistice, he was instantaneously killed by shrapnel near Ghissignies, France. His Adjutant wrote: "As a Company Commander he was most successful and beloved and respected by both his officers and men. I did my best to get him rejected for the Infantry, as in my opinion he was not physically fit for the marching entailed, but unfortunately without success." To find out more about Tonbridge and The Great War, visit our online archives at: www.tonbridgeschoolheritage.co.uk Or, contact Archivist, Bev Matthews at: E: beverley.matthews@tonbridge-school.org |
