Source: Michael Doyle Their Name Liveth For Evermore: The Great War Roll of Honour for Leicestershire and Rutland.
He was the son of Thomas Goodson, a grazier and iron stone worker, born 1866 in Eastwell, Leicestershire and his wife Elizabeth Ann Goodson (nee Booth, married on the 7th December 1891in the Parish Church, Harby, Leicestershire), born 1872 in Stathern, Leicestershire. Thomas Bernard was born on the 16th August 1898 in Stathern and was baptised on the 11th September 1898 in the Parish Church, Stathern, his siblings were, James, born 1893, Dorothy Edna, born 1895 and Ethel Mary, born 1897, all his siblings were born in Harby, Leicestershire, in March 1901 the family home was at Stathern. In April 1911 Thomas was a schoolboy and was residing in the family home at Waltham Road, Harby, together with his father, a farmer, his mother and siblings, Dorothy, assisting on the farm, Ethel, assisting on the farm, Maurice Augustus, born 1902 and Gladys Ellen, born 1904, the latter two siblings were both born in Stathern, John Edward, born 1906, Guy Harwood, born 1907 and Frederick Leonard, born 1910, the latter three siblings were all born in Harby.
Thomas was enrolled into the Army (For men deemed to be enlisted in H.M. Regular Forces for General Service with the Colours or in the Reserve for the period of the War, under the provisions of the Military Service Acts, 1916) on the 20th April 1917 in Derby. He gave his full address as -?- Hill, W-?-, Bingham, Nottinghamshire, his age as 18 on the 16th August 1916 and his trade or calling as farm labourer. He confirmed that he was unmarried. He stated that he wished to enrol in the Royal Field Artillery. He gave his father, Thomas Goodson of Harby Lodge, Melton Mowbray as his next of kin. His medical examination recorded that he was 5 foot 4¾ inches in height, weighed 112 pounds and he had a chest measurement of between 32 and 34 inches. His record of service began when he joined the Depot of the Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire Regiment in Derby as a Private, service number 84566 on the 20/4/17. Posted to the 2/5th Battalion Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire Regiment on the 23/4/17. Embarked to join the British Expeditionary Force in France on the 27/9/17. Posted to the 16th Battalion Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire Regiment on the 3/10/17. Joined the 16th Battalion Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire Regiment, in the field on the 7/10/17. Killed in action, in the field on the 5/11/17. A summary of his service records: Home Service, 20/4/17 – 26/9/17, 160 days. British Expeditionary Force, France, 27/9/17 – 5/11/17, 40 day. Total service 200 days. He was awarded the British War and Victory medals. Thomas’s surviving service documents are in a very poor condition, and much of the finer detail relating to the period of time that he spent in the Army, is either illegible or missing, hence the sparse overall description of his military and personal family history.
The War Diary records: 5 Nov-17 – GODAZONNE FARM. Lieutenant W. H. L. BULKELEY and 2nd Lieutenant C. E. ROBINSON proceeded on leave to ENGLAND. Lieutenant F. H. GOSLING M.C. took over temporary Command of “A” Company.
On Friday November 30th 1917 The Melton Mowbray Times & Vale of Belvoir Gazette published the following article under the heading. “DISTRICT NEWS.” – HARBY. – MEMORIAL SERVICE. – On Sunday evening last a memorial service was held in the Parish Church, for Bernard Goodson, second son of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Goodson, of Harby Lodge, who was killed in action on November 5th. Deceased was only 19 years of age, and belonged to the Sherwood’s. He had only been on the Western front for about a month, and the deepest sympathy is felt for the sorrowing parents and relatives. His older brother had come from Canada, with the Canadian detachment earlier in the war but had returned to Canada owing to ill health. The service on Sunday was most impressive, the Rector referring to the ten Harby boys who had already paid the supreme sacrifice. At the close of the service the “Dead March” was played and the National Anthem sung.