Salute to an old soldier: Newry Second World War veteran John Gough turns 100

A brave captain of the Normandy campaign who liberated towns in France and Belgium as the Allies beat back the Nazi war machine, he was also one of the last Irish Guards on duty at Hillsborough.

John turned 100 this week and was to be honoured with a special event in his Newry home organised by the Ulster Branch Irish Guards Association, featuring his old regiment honouring him with a presence including a mascot, piper, and guardsmen in uniform.

Right now wartime memories are close to the fore, with the 80th anniversary of VE Day just over the hill from John celebrating his remarkable achievement of reaching his century.

Now a loving family man enjoying a peaceful retirement, he wasn’t even 20 years old when he left British shores for the heart of the action – arriving in France shortly after D-Day. Joining the 3rd Battalion Irish Guards, he reached the Western Front in summer 1944.

“The regiment had landed in Normandy, there had been a casualty and I was called over to join them,” he remembers. “First thing was to find them; after I landed, I had to thumb my way over.

"I reported in and was told we were going into action the next day, but I could stand back; I did, and it was a very unfortunate incident with a lot casualties. It wasn’t a good place to be.”

Despite that setback, the Irish Guards regrouped to find more success moving up through France and Belgium as they drove the Nazis back, liberating Brussels and the surrounding countryside on the way.

John remembers overjoyed populations of towns and villages turning out to cheer on Allied soldiers, recalling with a twinkle that there were “of course pretty girls” eager to kiss their arriving heroes.

He took part in Operation Market Garden, a valiant but ultimately unsuccessful attempt to push up from Belgium into the occupied Netherlands. The 3rd Battalion were then held in reserve in Ardennes over winter, ready to go into action should the American lines at the Battle of the Bulge break, before pushing into Germany as the war neared its end.

By that point, the tottering Nazi regime was sending men normally considered too young, too old or too medically infirm to fight as its army struggled against the advancing Allies. Says John: “They were the dregs – many of them were only too happy to surrender.

"VE Day back home had people celebrating in the streets, but for us it was relief; it had been winding down so it didn’t come as a surprise, it was relief the whole bloody thing was over.”

After the war he was transferred to the much more upmarket grounds of Hillsborough, official residence of the governor of Northern Ireland. He remembers that governor, the Earl of Granville, looking after the soldiers well, treating them to days out at Downpatrick Races.

Leaving for civilian life in the late 1940s, John took a job in Sudan, looking after a huge cotton plantation irrigated by the Nile.

He wound up having as much trouble dealing with its wealthy owners as he did the workers, he says, and was forced to develop new skills rather than fall back on his wartime officer experience.

“If they’d had their way, they’d have taken so much water the Nile would be dry,” he says. “Diplomacy worked better than barking orders; it wasn’t “You do this” but “Oh you’re a great man, but I think it might perhaps be better if...”

And after an eventful life that began with such heroism, what has it been like to reach 100? “It’s quite good; everybody thinks you’re an old fool, and treat you as such, so life is very pleasant,” he laughs.