Major-General Arthur Alec Goschen (6 January 1880 – 28 June 1975) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer who served as an Area Commander during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

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. Henry Goschen was the younger brother of

George Goschen, 1st Viscount Goschen George Joachim Goschen, 1st Viscount Goschen (10 August 1831 – 7 February 1907), was a British statesman and businessman best remembered for being "forgotten" by Lord Randolph Churchill. He was initially a Liberal, then a Liberal Unionist be ...

. Goschen's great-grandfather was prominent publisher and printer

Georg Joachim Göschen Georg Joachim Göschen (22 April 1752Several sources list 22 December 1752 as his date of birth; while others list 22 April 1752 as the date he was baptised. – 5 April 1828) was a German publisher and bookseller in Leipzig, Kingdom of Saxony, ...

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

Kingdom of Saxony The Kingdom of Saxony () was a German monarchy in Central Europe between 1806 and 1918, the successor of the Electorate of Saxony. It joined the Confederation of the Rhine after the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, later joining the German ...

, 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 Sir William Henry Neville Goschen, 1st Baronet (30 October 1865 – 7 July 1945), known as Harry Goschen, was a British businessman and banker from the prominent Goschen family. Family and early life Harry was born at 7 Chapel Street, Grosveno ...

'', of Leipzig and London. Wilhelm Heinrich married an English woman and had several children, including George, Charles Hermann, Henry, Alexander Heun and Sir Edward Goschen. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

. His elder brother was Sir Harry Goschen, 1st Baronet.

Near drowning

On 7 September 1889, the

cutter Cutter may refer to: Tools * Bolt cutter * Box cutter * Cigar cutter * Cookie cutter * Cutter (hydraulic rescue tool) * Glass cutter * Meat cutter * Milling cutter * Paper cutter * Pizza cutter * Side cutter People * Cutter (surname) * Cutt ...

of the

schooner A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...

''Corinne'' (owned by his uncle Charles Hermann Goschen) was sailing near

The Needles The Needles are a row of three stacks of chalk that rise about out of the sea off the western extremity of the Isle of Wight in the English Channel, United Kingdom, close to Alum Bay and Scratchell's Bay, and part of Totland, the weste ...

, with Arthur,1881 England Census, Class: RG11; Piece: 807; Folio: 11; Page: 14; GSU roll: 1341190. his sister Eleanor, and crew on board. The cutter was capsized by a sudden gust of wind. The mate of the ''Corinne'', John James Smith Gawn of

Ryde Ryde is an English seaside town and civil parish on the north-east coast of the Isle of Wight. The built-up area had a population of 24,096 according to the 2021 Census. Its growth as a seaside resort came after the villages of Upper Ryde and ...

, saved the two children but himself drowned. Another yachtsman also drowned.

Military career

On 25 June 1899, Goschen was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

.Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
/ref>Hart´s Annual Army List 1908, p. 174. He saw active service in the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

from 1899 to 1901, was promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

on 16 February 1901 and awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, awarded for operational gallantry for highly successful ...

in September 1901. In 1911, he was serving in Cairo as Captain of J Battery, Royal Horse Artillery. He later served in the First World War as a brigade major for the Home Forces and in France, and was awarded bars to the Distinguished Service Order on 26 September 1917 and 26 July 1918. He had been promoted to brevet lieutenant colonel in January 1917. He graduated from the

Staff College, Camberley Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, was a staff college for the British Army and the presidency armies of British India (later merged to form the Indian Army). It had its origins in the Royal Military College, High Wycombe, founded in 1799, which ...

in 1920. He was promoted to colonel in June 1925, with seniority dating back to January 1922. After instructing at the Senior Officer School and then serving as an instructor at the

Staff College, Quetta The Command and Staff College Quetta is a staff college for the Pakistan Armed Forces and military officers from allied countries. Established in 1905 as Staff College, Deolali, it was later shifted to its present location in 1907 and has been a ...

, in India, he was appointed garrison commander and commandant at the Royal Artillery Depot at Woolwich in 1929, Brigadier Royal Artillery at

Aldershot Command Aldershot Command was a Home Command of the British Army. History After the success of the Chobham Manoeuvres of 1853, reformers of the British Army decided to create a permanent training camp at Aldershot. To begin the preliminary work a smal ...

in June 1931. In March 1934 he was promoted to temporary major general which was soon after made substantive, and became commandant of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. In June 1935 he was appointed a

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregi ...

. 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, before retiring again in 1941. In retirement he became a Deputy Lieutenant for

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

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 (1911–1988), who married Mary, daughter of Lt. Col. Ernest Morrison-Bell; and Captain John Arthur Goschen (1918–1941), who was killed in action in the

Siege of Tobruk The siege of Tobruk () took place between 10 April and 27 November 1941, during the Western Desert campaign (1940–1943) of the World War II, Second World War. An Allies of World War II, Allied force, consisting mostly of the 9th Division ...

. Goschen died at Cirencester on 28 June 1975.

References

Bibliography

External links

Generals of World War II
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goschen, Arthur 1880 births 1975 deaths Academics of the Staff College, Quetta British Army generals of World War II Commandants of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Companions of the Order of the Bath Deputy lieutenants of Gloucestershire People educated at Eton College Royal Artillery officers

Arthur Arthur is a masculine given name of uncertain etymology. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. A common spelling variant used in many Slavic, Romance, and Germanic languages is Artur. In Spanish and Ital ...

English people of German descent Military personnel from the City of Westminster People from Marylebone British Army major generals Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley British Army personnel of World War I British Army personnel of the Second Boer War