Henry Devlin Gold was born in Lanarkshire in 1906.
Originally a Stoker he joined the Territorial Army on
1/5/1939 at the age of 32 and was posted to 241 Field Company, Royal Engineers. On 2/9/1939, on the outbreak of war, he was embodied into the regular army. In April 1940 he transferred to No. 1 Independent Company which was deployed to defend Norway. The German invasion was already
well advanced and proved unstoppable. His wife Catherine later recalled an episode when Henry had to swim out to rescue boats in order to escape the advancing Germans. This may refer to the events at Hemnesberget on the 1oth of May in which his unit was heavily involved and which proved a major setback for the Allies. His unit was soon evacuated back to the UK, arriving on the 1st of June. He
rejoined 241 Fd Coy in November 1940, forming part of the 52nd (Lowland) Division. Soon after his return he married Catherine Burns on 7/12/1940 and his daughters Moira and Audrey were born in 1941 and 1943. During the next few years the Division stayed in the UK training initially in
mountain warfare ( hence their badge) and then as Air Mobile unit. He was hospitalized in November 1942. In October 1944 the 52nd Division was deployed, by sea, to Europe. In January 1945 the 52nd were in the southern Dutch province of Limburg. It was an unusually cold winter and the Netherlands were on the brink of famine. A few
weeks earlier, further south in the Ardennes, the Germans had launched a massive counter-attack, spearheaded by tanks, and the entire Allied advance was in danger of being thrown back. On the 7th January Sappers from 241 Field Company were laying anti-Tank mines near the Dutch-German Border. Henry, along with 30 men of his
company and 17 men from the 4th Battalion King’s Own Scottish Borderer’s were killed in a huge explosion. He, and they, are buried at Brunssum War Cemetery, Holland.