Gough, Private Samuel

Service highlights

  • Service number: 7406
  • Born: 16 February 1894, Larne, County Antrim
  • Enlisted: At Belfast, likely as a Special Reservist with the South Lancashire Regiment (The Prince of Wales’s Volunteers)
  • Prewar: Came to St. Marys in 1913 with two brothers, worked at Maxwell’s, lived on James Street South
  • Unit at outbreak of war: Posted to 2nd Battalion, South Lancashire Regiment, 7th Infantry Brigade, 3rd Division
  • France: Arrived 14 August 1914
  • Killed in action: 20 September 1914, during fighting on the Aisne River front
  • Commemorated: La Ferté-sous-Jouarre Memorial and the cenotaph in St. Marys

A Life and Service Remembered

Samuel Gough was born in Larne, County Antrim on 16 February 1894. As a young man he moved, first to Montgomeryshire in Wales and later to Manchester, following work and opportunity the way so many did. At some point he returned to Ireland and enlisted at Belfast, likely as a Special Reservist with the South Lancashire Regiment.

In 1913, Samuel crossed the Atlantic to Canada with his brothers James and Stephen, coming to St. Marys to join their sister Elsie Minor and her husband Edward, who had arrived earlier. For a time, Samuel lived a settled, familiar life in town. He worked at Maxwell’s and lived on James Street South with his two brothers, close enough to family that a visit could be an ordinary part of the week.

In May 1914, just months before the war, Samuel returned to Manchester. When Great Britain declared war on 4 August 1914, reservists were recalled. Samuel reported back to his regimental depot and was posted to the 2nd Battalion South Lancashire Regiment. Within days, he was on his way to France.

The pace of the early war was relentless. The battalion arrived in France on 14 August 1914 and fought at Mons on 23 August, then at Le Cateau three days later. After the retreat south, the unit halted near the Marne, absorbed reinforcements, and then advanced again as the lines shifted. By mid September, Samuel’s battalion had crossed the Aisne River in small boats, seized the far bank, and fought up the hills, pushing into what quickly became trench warfare.

By 14 September the German line had stabilised, and counterattacks followed. One of the last of those counterattacks struck on the night of 19 to 20 September 1914 against the 2nd South Lancashire. Samuel was killed in that action on 20 September 1914.

His loss did not land in isolation. Samuel left behind his wife, Priscilla Briscoe of Manchester, and two children, including a son, Wilfred, born in 1913. His family in St. Marys was also mourning, and their wartime story continued with more hardship. One brother, James, was later killed on the Somme in 1916. Another brother, Stephen, served with the Royal Canadian Regiment and was wounded in 1916. The details read like separate threads, but they belong to the same family fabric.

Today, Samuel is commemorated by name on the La Ferté-sous-Jouarre Memorial in France, and also remembered on the cenotaph in St. Marys, the town where he worked, lived, and stood close to his family before the war called him back across the ocean.

Major battles and operations

  • Battle of Mons, 23 August 1914
  • Battle of Le Cateau, late August 1914
  • Battle of the Marne, early September 1914
  • Aisne operations, including crossing the river and subsequent trench fighting, September 1914
  • Counterattack on the night of 19 to 20 September 1914, killed in action 20 September 1914

Learn More

https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/878789/samuel-gough/
https://astreetnearyou.org/person/878789/Private-Samuel-Gough
https://rcl236stmarys.ca/cenotaph/gough-private-stephen/
https://rcl236stmarys.ca/cenotaph/gough-private-james/
The Fallen, Richard Holt, 7406 Private S Gough, Pg 27