Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

Sir Richard Masters Gorham

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

, DFC, JP (3 October 1917 – 8 July 2006) was a prominent Bermudian parliamentarian, businessman and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

, who served as a pilot 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 ...

when he played a decisive role in the

Battle of Monte Cassino The Battle of Monte Cassino, also known as the Battle for Rome, was a series of four military assaults by the Allies of World War II, Allies against Nazi Germany, German forces in Kingdom of Italy, Italy during the Italian Campaign (World War ...

, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross.

Second World War

Bermuda Volunteer Engineers

Born in

Pembroke, Bermuda Pembroke Parish is one of the nine parishes of Bermuda. It is named after English aristocrat William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke (1580–1630). It occupies most of the short peninsula which juts from the central north coast of Bermuda's main ...

, the son of Mr. and Mrs. A. J. Gorham, he enlisted in the Bermuda Volunteer Engineers in 1938. The unit was mobilised, along with the other part-time units of the

Bermuda Garrison The Bermuda Garrison was the military establishment maintained on the British Overseas Territory and Imperial fortress of Bermuda by the regular British Army and its local-service militia and voluntary reserves from 1701 to 1957. The garrison ev ...

(the

Bermuda Militia Artillery The Bermuda Militia Artillery was a unit of part-time soldiers organised in 1895 as a reserve for the Royal Garrison Artillery detachment of the Regular Army garrison in the Imperial fortress colony of Bermuda. Militia Artillery units of the Un ...

(BMA),

Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps The Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps (BVRC) was created in 1894 as a reserve for the British Army, Regular Army infantry component of the Bermuda Garrison. Renamed the ''Bermuda Rifles'' in 1951, it was amalgamated into the Bermuda Regiment in 1965 ...

(BVRC), and the

Bermuda Militia Infantry The Bermuda Militia Infantry was raised in 1939 as a part-time reserve of the British Army's Bermuda Garrison. History The Bermuda Garrison The Parliament of Bermuda had authorised three part-time reserve units in 1892 to re-inforce the re ...

), when the

was declared. As a

corporal Corporal is a military rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The rank is usually the lowest ranking non-commissioned officer. In some militaries, the rank of corporal nominally corr ...

, he was attached to the signalling division at the Royal Naval Dockyard and earned a

commission In-Commission or commissioning may refer to: Business and contracting * Commission (remuneration), a form of payment to an agent for services rendered ** Commission (art), the purchase or the creation of a piece of art most often on behalf of anot ...

as a result of his saving an exercise when he suggested an emergency method of signalling visually to replace a broken

wireless Wireless communication (or just wireless, when the context allows) is the transfer of information (''telecommunication'') between two or more points without the use of an electrical conductor, optical fiber or other continuous guided transm ...

transmitter.

Bermuda Militia Artillery

Gorham was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the Bermua Militia Artillery on 20 December 1940, to replace Second Lieutenant Francis J. Gosling, who had trained as a pilot at the Bermuda Flying School and was to depart for the United Kingdom in January for transfer to the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

. Gorham would serve only briefly with the unit before following Gosling across the Atlantic. He learnt of an instruction from the Army Council that prevented commanding officers from barring officers under their command from taking any training course for which they volunteered (although his former BVE commanding officer, Major Cecil Montgomery-Moore, DFC – having transferred from the BVRC in France to the

Royal Flying Corps The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC sup ...

when he had been commissioned during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, and heading the Bermuda Flying School during the Second World War – must undoubtedly have approved of what Gorham intended).

Royal Artillery and Royal Air Force

At the time, the Royal Air Force was having great difficulty in providing effective air observation post pilots to the British Army. In 1918, the British Army lost its air wing when the

was merged with the

Royal Naval Air Service The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty (United Kingdom), Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British ...

to create the independent

(RAF). Since then, the RAF had jealously guarded its monopoly on British military and naval aviation. They provided the Royal Navy with RAF aircrew and support personnel to operate the aircraft of the

Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is the naval aviation component of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy (RN). The FAA is one of five :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, RN fighting arms. it is a primarily helicopter force, though also operating the Lockhee ...

, although the Navy had been allowed to begin training its own aircrew before the war began. The RAF also provided the aircraft and crews that worked in close support roles to the Army, notably the AOP pilots. These were pilots of light aircraft, such as the

Auster Auster may refer to: Places * Auster Glacier, located in East Antarctica * Auster Islands, East Antarctica * Auster Pass, located in East Antarctica * Auster Point, located in West Antarctica Other uses * Auster Aircraft, a former British air ...

, who acted as artillery spotters, directing the fire of the

guns A gun is a device that propels a projectile using pressure or explosive force. The projectiles are typically solid, but can also be pressurized liquid (e.g. in water guns or cannons), or gas (e.g. light-gas gun). Solid projectiles may be ...

of 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 ...

from the air. Having had poor success at training RAF pilots to direct artillery fire, it was decided to train Army officers who were proficient at the task to pilot aeroplanes. This preceded the recreation of a new air wing within the British Army, the Army Air Corps (which initially included parachute and glider landed units, as well as the Glider Pilot Regiment, but would eventually take over the AOP and other air support roles from the RAF). Then Second Lieutenants Gorham and Hugh Gregg (who had been commissioned into the BMA from the ranks of the BVE on 28 May 1941) relinquished their BMA commissions on 27 June 1942, on departing Bermuda for England (via Canada), where they received Regular Army emergency commissions into the Royal Artillery on 8 July 1942. Trained by the RAF, they served in squadrons controlled by the RAF. Gorham served in North Africa and Italy. In Italy, while in command of B Flight of 655 Squadron, he played the decisive role in the

when he spotted a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

division moving in

half-track A half-track is a civilian or military vehicle with wheels at the front for steering and continuous tracks at the back to propel the vehicle and carry most of the load. A half-track combines the soft-ground traction of a tank with the Car handl ...

Armoured Personnel Carriers An armoured personnel carrier (APC) is a broad type of armoured military vehicle designed to transport personnel and equipment in combat zones. Since World War I, APCs have become a very common piece of military equipment around the world. Acc ...

counter attack A counterattack is a tactic employed in response to an attack, with the term originating in " war games". The general objective is to negate or thwart the advantage gained by the enemy during attack, while the specific objectives typically seek ...

the British 5th Division and the Polish Corps, which were themselves attacking the German-occupied monastery. Contacting the senior Royal Artillery fire control officer on the ground. All two-thousand field guns within range were switched from their local targets and placed under his control. Gorham directed their fire down onto the German Division. The guns fired for hours, with Gorham taking turns with other AOP pilots. The German division was completely destroyed, and the Allied ground forces broke through four days later. For this action, Gorham received the Distinguished Flying Cross, a relative rarity for an Army officer.

Post-war service

Gorham relinquished his commission as a war substantive lieutenant on 13 June 1946, when he was appointed an honorary captain. Returning to Bermuda, he found the BMA and the BVRC had been reduced to skeleton commands and the BVE and BMI disbanded in 1946, along with the Home Guard. The BMA and BVRC would both maintain skeleton command structures till their strengths were built back up again in 1951 (they would amalgamate in 1965 into the Bermuda Regiment). Gorham entered the BVRC, renamed the Bermuda Rifles, in which he served for a number of years as second-in-command. He was intended to replace Lieutenant-Colonel J.C. Astwood as commanding officer in 1954, but was unable to do so due to illness. Major HRG Evans instead took command. Gorham was part of the detachment sent to London for the

coronation A coronation ceremony marks the formal investiture of a monarch with regal power using a crown. In addition to the crowning, this ceremony may include the presentation of other items of regalia, and other rituals such as the taking of special v ...

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

in 1953, departing from Bermuda aboard on 30 April. He retired from the army with the substantive rank of captain, however he was awarded the honorary rank of colonel in the Royal Artillery.

Civil life

In his civil life, Richard Gorham became a prominent businessman and

Member Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

of the

Parliament of Bermuda The Parliament of Bermuda is the bicameral legislative body of the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda. Based on the Westminster system, one of the two chambers (lower house) is elected, the other (upper house), appointed. The two chambers ar ...

(originally titled ''Member of the Colonial Parliament'', or MCP, but today simply ''Member of Parliament'', or MP). He donated much of his wealth to a host of causes, including the Bermuda Maritime Museum, and the Bermuda Sloop Foundation. He was appointed an Ordinary Commander of the Civil Division of the Most Excellent Order (CBE) in the Queen's New Year Honours on 31 December 1977, and a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised Order of chivalry, orders of chivalry; it is a part of the Orders, decorations, and medals ...

in the Queen's New Year Honours on 31 December 1994,Supplement to The London Gazette, 31 December 1994, Page 2
/ref> for public services.

Bibliography

* Jennifer M. Ingham (now Jennifer M. Hind), ''Defence, Not Defiance: A History of the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps'', Pembroke, Bermuda: The

Island Press Island Press is a nonprofit, environmental publisher based in Washington, D.C., United States, that specializes in natural history, ecology, conservation, and the built environment. Established in 1978, Island Press generates about half of its ...

Ltd. * Lt. Commander Ian Strannack, ''The Andrew and the Onions: The Story of the Royal Navy in Bermuda, 1795–1975'', The Bermuda Maritime Museum Press, The Bermuda Maritime Museum, P.O. Box MA 133, Mangrove Bay, Bermuda MA BX. * Dr. Edward C. Harris, ''Bermuda Forts 1612–1957'', The Bermuda Maritime Museum Press, The Bermuda Maritime Museum. * Lt.-Col. Roger Willock,

USMC The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionary ...

, ''Bulwark of Empire: Bermuda's Fortified Naval Base 1860–1920'', The Bermuda Maritime Museum Press, The Bermuda Maritime Museum. * Sqn.-Ldr Colin A. Pomeroy, ''Flying Boats of Bermuda'', Printlink, PO Box 937, Hamilton, Bermuda HM DX. * Major Cecil Montgomery-Moore, DFC, and Peter Kilduff, ''That's My Bloody Plane'', Chester, Connecticut: The Pequot Press, 1975. .

References

External links

''The Royal Gazette, Bermuda'', 30 December 1994

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120527134502/http://articles.mcall.com/keyword/bermuda Notice of the marriage of Gorham's son, Anthony Masters McIntire Gorham, a trust officer at the Bank of Butterfield, Hamilton, Bermuda, to Laura Young Taylor]
Bermuda Biological Station for Research: Honour Roll of Donors – The Associates Program 2003