Biography

Family background

Gorges Frederick Houghton (sometimes written as Georges) was born on the 7th August 1907 in Johnstown, Dublin. His grandfather, Henry George Houghton, was a physician who seems to have lived in practiced both in London and in Ireland. Gorges' father, William Frederick Houghton was the eldest (we think) of eight children and he married Florence Edith Lilian Hely in 1900 in Dublin. In 1901, William and Florence were living at Glashare, Kilkenny, Ireland. William was a farmer and a J.P. and they had three servants living with them. During the 1900s, William and Florence started and grew their family with children Henry William Hely Houghton (1901-1989), Olive Mary Houghton (1902-1982), Lilian Grace Houghton(1902-), Francis Watson Houghton (1904-1977), Charles Terrence Houghton (1905-1923), Gorges Frederick Houghton (1907-1978) and John Houghton (1912-1913).

By 1911, the family were living with Gorges' father (Henry, by then a retired physician) but on census night, William Frederick was not listed as present. Ten years later, the family, again without William present, were living at 'Lucerne', Tivoli Place, Cheltenham. Around that time, Gorges' eldest brother enlisted and became a 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Dublin Fusiliers (later transferring to the Sherwood Foresters) and was away from the family. We have also not found a record for William Frederick in the 1921 census.

Service record

Gorges' brother, Charles Terrence Houghton, died in 1923, but Gorges and his brothers, Henry William Hely Houghton and Francis Watson Houghton, both joined the army. The London Gazette of 2nd September 1930 records that 2nd Lieutenant G.F. Houghton of the Royal Signals was promoted to Lieutenant. A 1933 passenger list for the 4th May 1933 for the ship the "Strathnavar" shows two of the passengers were the Army Officers Gorges Houghton and Francis Houghton arriving in Plymouth from India. They gave their intended addresses as 175 Cromwell Road, Earls Court, London. Gorges service in India entitled him to the India General Service Medal (1908-1935) with Clasp for the North West Frontier (1930-1931). [It is worth noting that Francis Houghton of the Royal Engineers was later awarded both the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) and Military Cross (MC) for his service.]

Gorges' father, William Frederick Houghton died in 1936 at Ballydavid House, Littleton, Thurles, Co. Tipperary.

By 1938 Gorges is listed in the Official Directory of Northern Command as Captain G.F. Houghton of the Royal Signals, living at "Wharfebank", Linton. Gorges married Patricia Caroline Brady Moore in 1937, and in the 1939 electoral roll for Linton, both Gorges and Patricia are listed at Wharfebank.

During the Second World War, Gorges served in the Royal Signal Corps with the service number 38393. For part of his services he was awarded the OBE. We do not yet have a full service record for him, but the OBE citation gives some information about one part of his service:

Gorges Houghton therefore won his OBE during fighting with Force 121 in 1942. Force 121 took part in Operation Ironclad, the invasion of Madagascar. By 1942 the Allies were concerned that the island of Madagascar would make an ideal naval base from which the Axis powers could disrupt the flow of ships and materials around the south of Africa. After the fall of France, French overseas territories such as Madagascar were owned and governed by the Vichy French regime which collaborated with Hitler. The result was the decision to send an invading Allied force to take over Madagascar. The first stage of the invasion was Operation Ironclad, the seizure of the port of Diego Suarez (now Antsiranana) near the northern tip of the island on 5th May 1941. This was the first major Allied combined forces operation of the war.

Force 121 was formed for the operation. It left the Clyde on 23 March 1942 and joined other troops at Freetown in Sierra Leone and Durban. The initial amphibious landings were lightly opposed but further heavy fighting took place against the ~8,000 Vichy troops over the next few weeks. The Allies suffered about 500 casualties in the landing at Diego-Suarez and 30 more killed and 90 wounded in following operations, but the invasion was successful and Madagascar formed an important Allied base which was crucial for the rest of the war. With it's deep water ports, the island was crucial for control of passageway to India and the Persian corridor.

We still have to explore the rest of Gorges' war service.

After the war

After the war, Gorges did not return to Yorkshire. By 1949 he was living in London.

Both Gorges and his brother attended the Coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second in 1953 and were awarded the 1953 Coronation Medal.

Gorges Frederick Houghton died on the 30th September 1978.

Biography last updated 15 July 2024 16:13:24.