The Adam Park Project

Item Information:

Catalogue Number: Carpenter001 Source: Various Location: 7 Adam Park Report No: Not Applicable Artifact Type: Documents and Photographs Production Date: 2016-03-17 00:00:00 Dimensions of Item: Various Copyright with The Adam Park Project

Other Description:

A collection of images related to Lt Col Gerald Goodwin Carpenter, OC 1st Battalion Cambridgeshire Regiment

Historic Context:

In September 1940, Lt Col Gerald Goodwin Carpenter took over the command of the battalion.Carpenter came from St Leonard’s, near Hastings in Sussex, and had spent most of his early life as a boarder at a local church school on Pevensey Road. As a teenager he went to the Royal Artillery’s Military Academy in Woolwich and was given a commission in the 1st Suff olk Regiment on 20th September 1911.

He was a keen aviator and obtained his flying certificate in 1914. He was subsequently posted to 5 Squadron at the Central Flying School at Netheravon but returned to the Suff olks on 18th November and went on to further stints with the Royal Irish Fusiliers and Northumberland Fusiliers throughout WWI. He was awarded a Distinguished Service Order (DSO) for his actions on the Western Front.

The war had fostered Carpenter’s sense of adventure and he remained in service and headed east, joining the Jubbulpore Brigade of the Egyptian Army as Major in 1920, and then to Sudan to fight for the Sudanese Defence Force. He finally headed home to a more peaceful life in 1925 and he fell in love and married Hilda Margaret Baldwin on 8th December that same year.

On the outbreak of WWII, realising his services would once again be required, he re-enlisted with the Suffolks but requested to return to service at the rank of Major. However his senior officers soon realised that his leadership talents and vast experience were exactly what was required to knock the new Territorial battalions into shape, and his experience in the desert would stand the unit in good stead prior to any deployment to the Middle East. He was therefore restored to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in January 1941 on his posting to the 1st Battalion.