Frank
Firstname
Wilfred
Middle Name
Gooderham
Surname
Date of Birth
School Years:
Date of Death:
26 - 28
Family
Frank was the son of Charles and Helen Gooderham who farmed at Bacton, Suffolk. He was the youngest of 7 children. He attended St Felix School, Felixstowe before Ipswich School.
School Record
Frank was only at the school for 2 years. He as a cadet in the O.T.C.
After leaving school, Frank joined the agricultural department of West Suffolk County Council at Bury St Edmunds. Later he was a member of the milk and diaries department of Gloucestershire County Council.
Branch of Service:
5th Battalion Gloucester Regiment
Service Number:
Rank:
Decorations:
Service Record
Major
Post War Career
In May 1940, during the BEF’s retreat to Dunkirk, the 5th Battalion marched 95 miles in 83 hours with little food or sleep. They were ordered to hold the villages north-west of Cassel on the approaches to Dunkirk. The battalion took up positions on 26 May, and the first attacks came the next day. By 28 May, the battalion was surrounded at Ledringham and it withdrew under orders in the early hours of 29 May. The survivors reached Bray Dunes before dawn the next day and were subsequently taken off the beach by little ships. The stand at Ledringham had cost the battalion 87 killed, and when it reassembled in the UK it was just 400 strong. On its return, the battalion was brought back up to strength and manned coastal defences in Cornwall.
He had married Kathleen Mary Parker of the Frith, Wickwar in 1941 and after the war he farmed her family farm in Gloucestershire for the rest of his life. Frank and Mary had two children, Angela and Jonathan. He was a churchwarden for 13 years and secretary of the Bristol and Gloucester branch of the Prayer Book Society. He also had a lifelong interest in bee keeping.
Burial Information
Additional Information
Other Pictures
Frank and Mary 1939
Band leading men of the 5th Gloucesters back to camp at Windmill Hill, Ludgershall. August 1939
Men of the 5th Gloucesters drawing dinner rations from the field kitchen. August 1939
Evacuation from Bray Dunes. June 1940.