Gooch of Spalding, Memoirs of Edward Henry Gooch 1885-1962

In these, his memoirs, we see Harry's
adolescent revolt against his all-powerful father and his
flight to Canada after knocking him down in a row. Then
there is the account of his adventures in the Lincolnshire
Regiment before the outbreak of the First World War, his
time in the trenches with the rats and the corpses and only
his belief in the Almighty and in his Destiny to keep him
going. He tells how he lost a fortune during the Depression,
and then made another that he was to fritter away in luxury
cruises in the last years of his life. The Second World War
gives him a new 'raison d'tre' - first in the Home Guard
and then in the 'Little Ships.'

He paints a vivid
picture of a forgotten way of life, a life of ease, of loss,
of heartbreak, and of adventure; though, strangely enough,
he never speaks of his personal feelings - it wasn't the
done thing.

He was fiercely proud and patriotic
and adored all royalty and aristocracy, delighting in any
occasion that permitted him to approach them. But his
greatest pride was that of being, first and foremost, 'a
Lincolnshire man.'