Lewis Lawrence Golden

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(6 December 1922 – 27 October 2017) was a British accountant, war veteran, and a founder of

Everest Home Improvement Everest Home Improvement was a British double glazing and home improvement company. The company was founded in 1964 but went into administration in June 2020. A new company called Everest 2020 limited was formed in June 2020 following the adminis ...

. He was present at the Battle of Arnhem in 1944. Born in

Ealing Ealing () is a district in West London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. Ealing is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Ealing was histor ...

, London, in December 1922, Golden volunteered for the British Army soon after his 18th birthday and was commissioned into the

Royal Corps of Signals The Royal Corps of Signals (often simply known as the Royal Signals – abbreviated to R SIGNALS or R SIGS) is one of the combat support arms of the British Army. Signals units are among the first into action, providing the battlefield communi ...

in March 1942. He was one of the first Royal Signals officers to qualify as a parachutist and joined the

1st Parachute Brigade The 1st Parachute Brigade was an airborne forces brigade formed by the British Army during the Second World War. As its name indicates, the unit was the first parachute infantry brigade formation in the British Army. Formed from three parachute ...

Signal Section. He served in the invasion of North Africa in November 1942, then in Tunisia and in the Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943. In September that year, he served as signals officer of the

1st Airlanding Light Regiment The 1st Airlanding Light Regiment was an airborne forces unit of the British Army's Royal Artillery during the Second World War. The regiment was raised in 1943, by the expansion of an existing airborne artillery battery. Attached to the 1st Ai ...

of the Royal Artillery (1 ALR), which supported the

1st Canadian Infantry Division The 1st Canadian Division (French: ''1re Division du Canada'' ) is a joint operational command and control formation based at CFB Kingston, and falls under Canadian Joint Operations Command. It is a high-readiness unit, able to move on very short ...

in southern Italy. In September 1944, 1 ALR took part in

Operation Market Garden Operation Market Garden was an Allies of World War II, Allied military operation during the World War II, Second World War fought in the Netherlands from 17 to 27 September 1944. Its objective was to create a Salient (military), salient into G ...

, the battle of Arnhem. As divisional signals adjutant, Golden commanded a sector of the headquarters defences. He was awarded the OBE in the

1978 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 1978 were appointments by many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The appointments were made to celebrate t ...

for services to the London Library. He made various significant charitable donations in retirement.

References

Members of the Order of the British Empire People from Ealing English accountants English Jews English justices of the peace British Army personnel of World War II Royal Corps of Signals officers 1922 births 2017 deaths 20th-century English businesspeople Military personnel from London {{England-mil-bio-stub