Name
Cecil Argo Gold
3 Jun 1887
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
03/07/1916
29
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Lieutenant
Princess Charlotte of Wales’ (Royal Berkshire) Regiment
5th Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
1914 /15 Star, British War and Victory medals
Mentioned in Despatches
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
AVELUY COMMUNAL CEMETERY EXTENSION
H. 38.
France
Headstone Inscription
AT THY RIGHT HAND THERE ARE PLEASURES FOR EVERMORE
UK & Other Memorials
Personal Memorial Plaque, St Lawrence Church, Bovingdon, Eton College Memorial, Berkshire, Magdalen College Memorial, Oxford, MCC Members Memorial, St John's Wood, London, Frinton on Sea Golf Club Memorial, Essex, Solicitors and Articled Clerks Memorial, The Law Society, Holborn, London
Pre War
Cecil Argo Gold was born on 3 Jun 1887 in St Pancras, London, the son of Alfred (Argo) and Mary Ann (Oxenham) Gold, and the eldest of four children. His parents had been married in Bovingdon, Hertfordshire in 1886.
The family were living at Holly Lodge, Cookham, Berkshire on the 1891 Census and his father was a wine merchant. At that time they had six servants, including a butler.
Cecil was educated at The Evelyns School, Colham Green, Hillingdon, Uxbridge, Middlesex from 1894 to 1900, when he left to go to Eton College, and was selected for the school cricket team in 1905 and 1906. After leaving Eton he went to Magdalen College, Oxford to study History between 1906 and 1909. Whilst there he played cricket and golf and rowed for the College. He was a member of the MCC from 1907. Cecil was listed as a scholar at Eton College on the 1901 Census, but his parents and two siblings were then living at Hazlebank, Bray, Berkshire.
When he left Oxford he became a solicitor’s articled clerk, passing the intermediate examination of the Law Society in February 1911 and the final in November 1912, after which he became a solicitor in the firm of Chester, Browne and Griffiths. He was Secretary of the Golf Club at Frinton-on-Sea, Essex.
On the 1911 Census Cecil was living with his parents and brother Patrick at 41 South Street, St George Hanover Square, London when he gave his occupation as Solicitor's Articled Clerk. The family had nine servants.
They later lived at 31 Gloucester Square, Hyde Park, London.
Wartime Service
In June 1906 Cecil was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the 1st Battalion, Buckinghamshire Volunteer Rifle Corps. At the outbreak of war, he gained a commission as temporary 2nd Lieutenant with the 5th Battalion (Princess Charlotte of Wales) Royal Berkshire Regiment on 24 November 1914, soon being promoted to Lieutenant and Adjutant. They trained in southern England and were sent to France, arriving in Boulogne on 31 May 1915. The Battalion first saw action at Ploegsteert Wood in June, followed by occupation of trenches near Loos in September where they were often shelled by the enemy. The Battalion trained from April to June 1916, in the Vermelles area, for the coming battle and Cecil was Mentioned in Despatches for bravery and distinguished conduct in the field on 30 April 1916 (London Gazette 15 Jun 1916).
On 30 June they moved to Franvillers, followed by Henencourt Wood and Albert. According to a letter from a brother officer, Cecil was killed in action on 3 July 1916, aged 29, at Ovillers-la-Boisselle on the Somme. when he received a gunshot to the brain from a sniper during a battalion attack. After his death, his body lay where he fell, but two nights later his best friend, Lieutenant Richard Causton recovered it from no-mans-land and made sure Cecil was given a proper burial at 6.00 am on 6 July at Aveluy, north of Albert. The Battalion's total casualties for 3 July numbered 14 officers and 318 other ranks killed, wounded or missing.
Additional Information
His father, Mr A Gold, 31 Gloucester Square, W2, ordered his headstone inscription: "AT THY RIGHT HAND THERE ARE PLEASURES FOR EVERMORE". Probate was granted in London on 29 December 1926 to Alfred Gilbey Gold (father) with effects of £8754 8s. His father also received £97 7s 9d pay owing. His brother Patrick Hugh Gold, Captain in the Royal Berks Regiment, was wounded on 13 October 1915 but survived the war. His other brother Alec Henry Gold, served with the 5th (Service) Battalion of the Royal Berkshire Regiment from 1915 to 1919. He was also wounded but survived and became a wine merchant after the war.
Acknowledgments
Jonty Wild, Brenda Palmer
Malcolm Lennox, Dick West, slowdusk.,magd.ox.ac.uk (Magdalen College)
