Gough Family: The Great War letters of the four sons of Colonel George Hugh Gough, second son of the 2nd Viscount Gough, a regular soldier who died on active service in South Africa in 1900, written to his wife & their mother, Hilda Gough.

Gough Family: The Great War letters of the four sons of Colonel George Hugh Gough, second son of the 2nd Viscount Gough, a regular soldier who died on active service in South Africa in 1900, written to his wife & their mother, Hilda Gough. Bound volume of typescript copies, [282]pp., 8vo (210x178mm). Full black crushed morocco by Bumpus Ltd., raised bands & gilt title to spine. nd (c.1936) #62498

The War Letters of Guy V.H. Gough (a regular officer of the KRRC taken PoW at Ypres on 2/11/1914); Harold S. Gough (KiA near Ypres with the 11th [Service] Bn. KRRC on 17/6/1916 & buried in Vlamertinghe Military Cemetery); Dermot H. Gough (10th Hussars & VIII Corps HQ) & George P. Gough (Irish Guards). The letters are presented chronologically throughout the war from 16th August 1914 to 1st December 1918. These brothers were the sons of Colonel George Hugh Gough CB [1852-1900] & his wife, Hilda Morrison, grandsons of George Stephens Gough, Second Viscount Gough. The brothers: Guy Vincent Hugh Gough [1887-1958] Lieutenant, King's Royal Rifle Corps. Prisoner of War from 2nd November 1914 to 18th November 1918. Later Colonel; George Patrick Gough [1887-1932] Lieutenant, Irish Guards. Wounded in 1914 and later served on the Staff; Harold Stewart Gough, "Boy" [1894-1916] Lieutenant, 11th (Service) Bn. King's Royal Rifle Corps. Killed in Action at Ypres, 17th June 1916; Dermot Humphrey Gough, MC [1896-1919] Lieutenant, 10th Hussars. Died 7th October 1919. The letters are presented chronologically, the first being from Guy, evidently his first from France, through to a final letter from Dermot dated 1st December 1918. There are around 160 letters in all, most extending over several pages, approximate page break down as follows: GVHG: Letters on active service during 1914 campaign until captured (50 pages) & letters from Crefeld and Schwarmstadt PoW Camps (94 pages). Some extracts: 17/9/1914: "…Ever since our advance, things have been going well; capturing 500 prisoners per day and full of confidence. Last Monday we sallied out to capture some more, but got held up and we have been fighting ever since, or rather sitting quite still and being shelled by enormous shells. Horrible – one shell burst into a barn and killed 15 and wounded 45 men – it was ghastly – Hugo --, He got wounded below the arm (left) on Monday morn; lay under fire for 4 hours, was brought in that night to a barn in the firing line, where he was only slightly dressed and not brought down till Tuesday night. On Wednesday morn, they examined him and discovered that 'Grangrene' [sic] had set in, so they had to amputate half way between elbow and shoulder… It is bad business. But a day never goes by without hearing that at least one of one's best friends have been killed… We are very cheery indeed, wonderful and the men are glorious – cheery and longing to have a go at the Germans…" 18/4/1915: "…Your letters pour in very regularly and are wonderful in the amount of news and gossip… We have been quite stirred out of our lethargy lately. Three Officers tried to escape, one was captured and the other two managed to get back undetected into barracks. The next day we were told that unless these two officers either gave themselves up or were given up, all smoking would be stopped. We are still not smoking…" GPG: Letters on active service during 1914 campaign until wounded on 26/12/1914 (16 pages).There follows a break in active service then: Letters serving with HQ VIII Corps during 1918 (8 pages). Extract: 9/12/1914: "…Such a stirring half hour this morning, Hubert [Gough] first of all arrived in the village, in great form continually repeating 'No quarter, George, kill them all, wounded or prisoner', then Johnny [Gough] came up, also in very good form and hopeful about a general advance, then Douglas Haig who was introduced to Eric and I said suitable words about the Gough Clan. It has stirred one up to tremendous enthusiasm, and Hubert was going to show D. Haig the right place to go!! I gave a stirring lecture to my Company, explaining I would shoot anyone who left the trenches or failed to advance and hope they were suitably impressed…" HSG: Letters on active service from 25/7/1915-29/5/1916 (KiA 17/6/1916) (65 pages). Extract: 12/10/1915: "We came back to billets last night after a strenuous and fairly eventful week in the Trenches… We were shelled out of our mere [mire?] early in the week and since then have lived a more or less hand to mount existence in the open… We were shelled intermittently day and night all through the week and on this occasion did not get off so lightly in the matter of casualties. I am sorry to say that my platoon was the worst sufferer in this respect. My servant was slightly wounded but he has now returned to duty. He showed great courage and enterprise at a rather difficult period and has really earned a good parcel. As a servant he had improved enormously during the last fortnight…" DHG: Letters on active service with 10th Hussars from 7/2/1916-1/12/1918 (34 pages). Extract: 8/4/1918: "…Well, I have had the hardest time for the last 18 days I have ever had in my life. It was awful but I am thankful to say once more I have been saved. I have lost every bit of my kit bit… I expect we shall have some more fighting… Our men were simply wonderful. We had 10 officer casualties, one killed and the rest wounded. Our Colonel was wounded – he is the 8th during this war we have had…" Duplicated typescript, page size 160x200mm, overall size 172x208mm x 50mm thick, bound in full green crushed morocco, aeg, with raised bands and gilt title to spine: THE WAR LETTERS OF G.V.H.G. – G.P.G. – H.D.G. – D.H.G. 1914-1918 by Bumpus Ltd. at their Oxford Street address, with ink ms. inscription to blank leaf, presumably by their mother: "Translated from the Warfare of the World into the Peace of God. Harold Stewart Killed at Ypres June 16 1916. Dermot Humphrey Gough Died at Badminton after 3 years active service Oct. 6th 1919. George Patrick Gough Died July 12 1936." See illustrations on our website. £1250

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