Harold Goulding
 Harold Goulding  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | Harold Wilkinson Goulding 1903/08/21 West Hartlepool | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 1945/08/04 (Age 41) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cause of death | "Of illness" | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | British | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Victim of | • premature death • unexplained death | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Interest of | Laurence de Mello | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Decorated wartime hero, Commander of the Special Boat Unit Headquarters. Died age 41 or 42 "of illness" just after the end of WW2.
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Contents
Background
Goulding was born in 1903 or 1904 to Harold and Alice Goulding in West Hartlepool. He attended West Brougham school. He married in 1926 and had one son. He "follow[ed] the sea since boyhood, chiefly in merchant ships, and so successful was his career that he had command of his first vessel at the age of 25".[2]
Wartime activities
Goulding worked mainly or exclusively under the Special Boat Service, particularly in a range of positions at Hayling Island (referred to as HMS Northney). Goulding's service record was very probably deliberately obfuscated in order to provide cover for him while he undertook top secret missions. What does seem clear is that he distinguished himself as outstanding in his energy, skill at both sailing and as a manager and his coolness under enemy fire. Typical of testimonials was Captain Slocum's report of him as "a first class seaman and navigator, and an exceptionally able pilot in Channel Ports and waters".
Chief Training Officer
left|380px|Chief Training Officer On Hayling Island From 31st January 1941, a document suggests that Goulding was Chief Training Officer On Hayling Island (HMS Northney). He was a very active member of SSRF and may have been important in establishing this group. He carried out a large number of secret missions against the French coast.
"The only common factor in these operations was the provision by Slocum of a specialist navigating and conducting officer in each case Lt. H.W. Goulding DSO, RNR. who knew the channel coast intimately and Lt. Cdr J.W.F. Milner Gibson DSC RNR. Between them carried the responsibility for navigating and conducting clandestine cross-Channel operations by high speed craft for S.I.S. S.O.E. and the Commandos until September 1941."[3][4]
In 1941 Goulding was awarded the DSO for "outstanding fearlessness and resource on special service". He is mentioned in Time Magazine.[5]
Operation Jubilee
Goulding was mentioned in dispatches as the Senior Landing Officer for Blue Beach during the disasterous 1942 raid on Dieppe. Reports indicate that a mistake of Lieutenant J. I. Lloyd delayed the landing by 15 minutes when the boats were forming up,[6] after which "[Goulding']s actions resulted in further delay".[7] The delay of the Blue beach landing of the 13th Canadian Infantry Division is reckoned to have greatly aggravated the casualties.[6] John Ainsworth-Davis claims to have witnessed the massacre from the German perspective in Op JB, and that it played a large part in establishing his credibility.
Commander of the Special Boat Unit Headquarters
Captain Chambers recommended Goulding for promotion in this way: "An outstanding officer. A great leader. A good organiser. Handles men well. His great knowledge of every part of the French coast has been used to great advantage in Night raiding by Landing Craft. In a great many raids he has personally led in the craft. This officer is very strongly recommended in all ways as being fitted for higher rank. Very loyal keen and hardworking. Has an exceptional energy." [4]
A document from the national archives confirms that Goulding had this job on 31st March, 1944.
1944 Travel
On 25 June, 1944 Brigadier John Durnford-Slater gave Goulding authorisation to return to UK (presumably from France) "on urgent Liaison duties".[8] On 24 October 1944, Robert Laycock gave Goulding authorisation to carry "top secret papers" to Italy by air.
Close of WW2
Paperwork states that Goulding worked for 40 days for the Naval Control Service, Cardiff as "Commodore of Coastal Convoys" until one week after the World War II ended in Europe.[1] This service was intended to provide merchant ships safe routes and give them a safe rendezvous with convoys.[9]
Concerns
This may fit his rank, but Cardiff seems like an unexpected use of "his great knowledge of every part of the French coast" as noted by Captain Chambers. Moreover, as of May 2015, out of 38 Google hits for "Naval Control Service" and "Cardiff", none had these terms in conjunction.[10] Also, others who held this office did so for a few years, rather than just 40 days.[11][12]
Alternative possibility
It is possible that Goulding never was "Commodore of Coastal Convoys", but that this paperwork was issued as cover to hide the fact he was undertaking a secret assignment. These dates fit pretty closely with John Ainsworth-Davis' claim that a small group of the most skilled men available (which would surely have included Goulding, given his seniority and record of excellence) on Operation James Bond. In this case, Cardiff may have been chosen as being close enough to the French coast not to have appeared as a non-sequitur, but far enough from his friends and acquaintances on the South Coast to have proved credible as far as they were concerned.
Death
The commonwealth war graves site lists Harold Wilkinson Goulding died on 4 August 1945 (age 41).[13] A website listing Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) Officers indicates that he "died of illness".[14] The Northern Daily Mail of 6 August 1945 reports that he "died in hospital at Edinburgh", aged 42, but provides no further details, not even a date.[15]
Concerns
He was a close friend of Herbert Hasler, who was influential in the development of the post-war formation of the Special Boat Service. Goulding was very possibly at least as influential, although records of him are remarkably thin on the ground.
Harold Goulding's granddaughter reports that his wife had extreme difficulty getting a war pension - reportedly it took decades. This seems incongruous for such a celebrated hero of such senior rank.[16]
For over 65 years, his name was misspelled in the CWGC records as "Gouldin", being corrected only after his granddaughter pointed the matter out.[17]
Event Participated in
| Event | Start | End | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| WW2/Dieppe Raid | 19 August 1942 | 19 August 1942 | A WW2 raid on Dieppe which thousands of men were killed or captured. |
References
- ↑ a b http://gallery.commandoveterans.org/cdoGallery/v/WW2/sbs/goulding/Service+Documents.jpg.html
- ↑ http://gallery.commandoveterans.org/cdoGallery/v/WW2/sbs/goulding/Britains+Landing+Craft+Crew.jpg.html
- ↑ Secret Flotillas, by Brooks Richards
- ↑ a b http://gallery.commandoveterans.org/cdoGallery/v/WW2/sbs/goulding/
- ↑ Time Magazine 1941
- ↑ a b Supplement to the London Gazette, 14 August 1947
- ↑ The Dieppe Raid: The Story of the Disastrous 1942 Expedition, p. 173
- ↑ http://www.pegasusarchive.org/normandy/frames.htm
- ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/60/a4179260.shtml
- ↑ https://www.google.com/search?q=%22Naval%20Control%20Service%22+cardiff
- ↑ http://www.unithistories.com/officers/RNR_officersW.html
- ↑ http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1030011918
- ↑ http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2836156/GOULDING,%20HAROLD%20WILKINSON
- ↑ http://www.unithistories.com/officers/RNR_officersG.html
- ↑ The Northern Daily Mail, 6 August 1945, p.3
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMhy1C7_sE0
- ↑ http://forum.commandoveterans.org/cdoForum/posts/list/2902.page
