Name: Action: Trigger: Stock: Barrel: Scope: Gunsmith: Ammo: 1: Tony Harper: Turbo: Jewell: Pippin: Shilen: Leupold: Calfee: Eley Match: 2: Darrel Barnes: Swindlehurst. Richard Gorham's wiki: Colonel Sir Richard Masters Gorham CBE, DFC, JP (3 October 1917 – 8 July 2006) was a prominent Bermudian parliamentarian, businessman and philanthropist, who served as a pilot during the Second World War when he played a decisive role in the Battle of Monte Cassino, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross.
The Bermuda Volunteer Engineers | |
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Cap Badge of the Corps of Royal Engineers (this is the post-1953 version, with the Queen's crown). | |
Country | Bermuda (United Kingdomoverseas territory) |
Branch | British Army |
Type | Military engineering |
The Bermuda Volunteer Engineers was a part-time unit created between the two world wars to replace the RegularRoyal Engineers detachment, which was withdrawn from the Bermuda Garrison in 1928.
- 1History
History[edit]
The Military Garrison in Bermuda[edit]
From 1895 to 1931, the only Bermudian units within the garrison were part-time infantry and artillery soldiers, the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps and the Bermuda Militia Artillery, respectively. Each unit had been created under a separate Act of the colonial parliament, at the prompting of the Secretary of State for War, in London. A third act had also been passed authorising the creation of a militia engineering unit of sappers and miners. This would have followed in the pattern of The Submarine Mining Militia formed in Britain in 1878 and tasked with defending major ports. They received a minimum of fifty-five days training per year, and were recruited from experienced boatmen. In Bermuda, the unit was intended to operate boat from the Royal Army Service Corps docks in Hamilton and St. George's, tending to the underwater mine defences, but the unit was never raised. Instead, the Royal Engineers 27th Company (Submarine Mining) which had been permanently reassigned from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Bermuda in 1888 (part of the company had been split off to create the new 40th Company, which remained in Halifax), continued to maintain the mine defences unaided.[1][2][3] This unit was not raised.[4] Unit codes were assigned to all three legislated units for marking the stock disks of the Martini-Henry rifle: M./BER. A. for the Bermuda Militia Artillery; V./BER. for the Bermuda Volunteers Rifle Corps; M./BER. S.M. for the Bermuda Submarine Miners.
Submarine mine defence was only one of many activities the Royal Engineers were involved in within Bermuda, which particularly included building forts and infrastructure. In 1900 the Royal Engineers Submarine Mining Companies also assumed responsibility for operating electric searchlights defending harbours.
During the First World War, in addition to fulfilling their roles as guardians of Bermuda and its important Imperial defence assets (such as the Royal Naval Dockyard), each of these units sent two contingents to the Western Front. Numerous other Bermudians served in other regiments and corps of the British Army, as well as in the Royal Navy and the new Royal Air Force.
Large numbers of regular infantry and artillery soldiers, plus various supporting units, had been stationed in Bermuda since the early 19th Century, but the UK Government had been trying to reduce the expense of maintaining garrisons around the world, following the Crimean War, by encouraging the raising of volunteer units in the various colonies and protectorates. This had led to the creation of the two Bermudian units, and the size of the regular forces in Bermuda was steadily reduced from about 1870 onward.
![Rifles Rifles](http://i740.photobucket.com/albums/xx46/George_Gillespie/9703e029-b05f-4417-954d-c8b4cf5bed3d_zps621f783e.jpg)
From 1919 the regular infantry battalion on garrison was reduced to a wing. Excepting the years 1925 to 1929, when a full battalion was present, this remained the case 'til 1940. In May, 1928, the Royal Artillery companiess and Royal EngineersFortress Company were withdrawn entirely.[5][6] The existing volunteer units were able to take on the roles vacated by the regular infantry and Royal Artillery, but the creation of a new volunteer unit was necessary to fulfil that of the Royal Engineers.
Creation of the Bermuda Volunteer Engineers[edit]
The Bermuda Volunteer Engineers was created in June, 1931. Its original strength was one captain, one subaltern, three sergeants, four corporals, and twenty-four sappers. An adjutant, a sergeant-major, and two sergeants were attached from the regular Royal Engineers. Its original role was to operate the search lights at coastal artillery batteries. The only battery left in active use by that time was the Examination Battery at St. David's Head, the guns of which were manned by the BMA.[7]
The first commanding officer of the BVE was Captain H.D. (later Sir Harry) Butterfield, and the second-in-command was Lieutenant Cecil Montgomery-Moore, DFC. Both were veterans of the First World War (Montgomery-Moore had served in the BVRC before taking a commission as a fighter pilot in the Royal Flying Corps). In 1932, Butterfield retired, and Montgomery-Moore succeeded him. The new 2-i-c was Lieutenant Nicholas Bayard Dill (later Sir Bayard), a son of Colonel Thomas Melville Dill (a former commander of the BMA).
In 1937, the BVE subsequently also took on responsibility for providing signals crew and equipment to all elements of the garrison.
Second World War[edit]
The BVE, and the other part-time units, were mobilised at the start of the Second World War, fulfilling its role to the Garrison throughout the war. Some members also were detached for service overseas with other units, including the Royal Artillery and the Royal Air Force. These included four Sappers who were attached to a larger BVRC contingent despatched to the Lincolnshire Regiment in June, 1940.
Another was Captain Richard Gorham, DFC. Commissioned from the ranks, he was detached from the Bermuda Volunteer Engineers to travel to England to train as an Air Observation Post pilot-an aerial artillery spotter. He had been involved in directing artillery fire as part of his role in the BVE, but had to transfer into the Royal Artillery for this new role. Serving in Italy, he played the decisive role in the Battle of Monte Cassino when he spotted a Germandivision moving in half-trackedGermanArmoured Personnel Carriers to counter attack against the British and Polish army units which were attacking the German-occupied monastery. Gorham controlled the fire of two-thousand field guns, which fired for hours, destroying the German division. Gorham received the Distinguished Flying Cross for this action.[8]
In Bermuda, Montgomery-Moore was promoted to Major in 1940, and Bayard Dill to Captain. In addition to his role with the BVE, Montgomery-Moore also headed the Bermuda Flying School, which trained 80 local volunteers as pilots for the RAF and the Fleet Air Arm. Volunteers were only accepted from those already serving in the local forces, some of whom came from the BVE.[9]
Disbandment[edit]
The BVE, as with all of the local volunteer units, was demobilised in 1946 following the end of the war. Whereas the BVRC and the BMA maintained skeleton command structures until they began recruiting again in 1951, the Bermuda Volunteer Engineers was officially disbanded.
References[edit]
- ^27557 Sapper ARCHIBALD LINDSAY, Royal Engineers: 5. ASSIGNMENTS AND CAMPAIGN SERVICE; Halifax and Bermuda (1896-1902). By Lieutenant-Colonel Edward De Santis. 2005
- ^Submarine Miners Volunteers. By Glyn Davies. Rootsweb.
- ^Fort Gilkicker website: Fort Monckton and the Submarine Mining Establishment
- ^Bulwark Of Empire: Bermuda's Fortified Naval Base 1860-1920, Lt.-Col. Roger Willock, USMC, The Bermuda Maritime Museum Press, The Bermuda Maritime Museum, ISBN0-921560-00-1
- ^Army Notes. Royal United Services Institution Journal, Volume 73, Issue 490, 1928
- ^UK Parliament house of commons debate: ARMY ESTIMATES, 1928. 8 March 1928. vol 214 cc1261-310 1261
- ^The Bermuda Volunteer Engineers, by Jennifer M. Hind (formerly Jennifer M. Ingham) of The Royal Gazette. Transcript of typescript document held at the Bermuda Maritime Museum.
- ^Colonel Sir Richard M. Gorham, DFC. Article by Peter Bonete, published in the Mid-Ocean News, 11 March 1972.
- ^That's My Bloody Plane, by Major Cecil Montgomery-Moore, DFC, and Peter Kilduff. 1975. The Pequot Press, Chester, Connecticut. ISBN0-87106-057-4.
Bibliography[edit]
- Defence, Not Defiance: A History Of The Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps, Jennifer M. Ingham (now Jennifer M. Hind), The Island Press Ltd., Pembroke, Bermuda, ISBN0-9696517-1-6
- The Andrew And The Onions: The Story Of The Royal Navy In Bermuda, 1795 – 1975, Lt. Commander Ian Strannack, The Bermuda Maritime Museum Press, The Bermuda Maritime Museum, P.O. Box MA 133, Mangrove Bay, Bermuda MA BX. ISBN0-921560-03-6
- Bermuda Forts 1612–1957, Dr. Edward C. Harris, The Bermuda Maritime Museum Press, The Bermuda Maritime Museum, ISBN0-921560-11-7
- Bulwark Of Empire: Bermuda's Fortified Naval Base 1860-1920, Lt.-Col. Roger Willock, USMC, The Bermuda Maritime Museum Press, The Bermuda Maritime Museum, ISBN0-921560-00-1
- Flying Boats Of Bermuda, Sqn.-Ldr. Colin A. Pomeroy, Printlink, PO Box 937, Hamilton, Bermuda HM DX, ISBN0-9698332-4-5
- Bermuda From Sail To Steam: The History Of The Island From 1784 to 1901, Dr. Henry Wilkinson, Oxford University Press, ISBN0-19-215932-1
- That's My Bloody Plane, by Major Cecil Montgomery-Moore, DFC, and Peter Kilduff. 1975. The Pequot Press, Chester, Connecticut. ISBN0-87106-057-4.
Captain Gorham in London in Bermuda Rifles uniform for 1953 Coronation | |
Born | October 3, 1917 |
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Died | July 8, 2006 (aged 88) |
Education | Saltus Grammar School Ridley College[1] |
Spouse(s) | Barbara Tredick Dimmick McIntire [2](m. 1948; his death 2006) |
Children | Christine Dimmick Gorham Cox[3] Tredick R. T. Gorham Arthur J. Gorham Anthony M. M. Gorham |
Relatives | Robin Auchincloss Sedgwick (step-daughter) Betty Kitson (sister) Joan Wilkie (sister)[4] |
Colonel SirRichard Masters GorhamKB, CBE, DFC, JP[5][6] (3 October 1917 – 8 July 2006) was a prominent Bermudianparliamentarian, businessman and philanthropist, who served as a pilot during the Second World War when he played a decisive role in the Battle of Monte Cassino, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross.
- 1Second World War
Second World War[edit]
Bermuda Volunteer Engineers[edit]
Born in Pembroke, Bermuda, 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 Militia Artillery (BMA), Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps (BVRC), and the Bermuda Militia Infantry), when the Second World War was declared. As a Corporal, he was attached to the signalling division at the Royal Naval Dockyard and earned a commission as a result of his saving an exercise when he suggested an emergency method of signalling visually to replace a broken wireless transmitter.
Bermuda Militia Artillery[edit]
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. 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 when he had been commissioned during the First World War, 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[edit]
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 Royal Flying Corps was merged with the Royal Naval Air Service to create the independent Royal Air Force (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, 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, who acted as artillery spotters, directing the fire of the guns of the Royal Artillery 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 Battle of Monte Cassino when he spotted a Germandivision moving in half-trackedGermanArmoured Personnel Carriers to counter attack 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.[7]
Post-war service[edit]
Gorham relinquished his commission as a War Substantive Lieutenant on 13 June 1946, when he was appointed an Honorary Captain.[8] 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 1953 (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 of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, departing from Bermuda aboard HMS Superb on the 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[edit]
In his civil life, Richard Gorham became a prominent businessman and Member of the Parliament of Bermuda (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 Commanders of the Civil Division of the Most Excellent Order (CBE) in the Queen's New Year Honours on 31 December 1977,[9] and a Knight Bachelor in the Queen's New Year Honours on 31 December 1994,[10] for public services.
Bibliography[edit]
- Jennifer M. Ingham (now Jennifer M. Hind), Defence, Not Defiance: A History of the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps, Pembroke, Bermuda: The Island Press Ltd. ISBN0-9696517-1-6
- 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. ISBN0-921560-03-6
- Dr. Edward C. Harris, Bermuda Forts 1612–1957, The Bermuda Maritime Museum Press, The Bermuda Maritime Museum. ISBN0-921560-11-7
- Lt.-Col. Roger Willock, USMC, Bulwark of Empire: Bermuda's Fortified Naval Base 1860-1920, The Bermuda Maritime Museum Press, The Bermuda Maritime Museum. ISBN0-921560-00-1
- Sqn.-Ldr Colin A. Pomeroy, Flying Boats of Bermuda, Printlink, PO Box 937, Hamilton, Bermuda HM DX. ISBN0-9698332-4-5
- Major Cecil Montgomery-Moore, DFC, and Peter Kilduff, That's My Bloody Plane, Chester, Connecticut: The Pequot Press, 1975. ISBN0-87106-057-4.
References[edit]
- ^Horst Augustinovic. 'Do you know… About Colonel Sir Richard M. Gorham, DFC and His Role in the Battle of Monte Cassino?'. Bermuda. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
- ^'In Memoriam: Barbara Tredick Dimmick McIntire Gorham'. FisherIsland.net. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
- ^'Christine Dimmick Gorham Weds Robert G. Cox'. The New York Times. 15 September 1991. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
- ^'Telegraph Announcements'. Telegraph. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
- ^Richard Gorham biodataArchived 6 February 2016 at the Wayback Machine
- ^Gorham entry in the London Gazette
- ^[Colonel Sir Richard M. Gorham, DFC. Article by Peter Bonete, published in the Mid-Ocean News, 11 March 1972.]
- ^Supplement to the London Gazette, 14 June, 1946, Page 3015
- ^Supplement to The London Gazette, 31 December, 1977, Page 18
- ^Supplement to The London Gazette, 31 December, 1994, Page 2