A reluctant hero: L-Cpl Patrick Goggin MM: The story of one man’s war on the Western Front 1916-1918
Publication Details
Dean, P. J. (2009). A reluctant hero: L-Cpl Patrick Goggin MM: The story of one man’s war on the Western Front 1916-1918. Sabretache: The Journal of the Military Historical Society of Australia, XL(4).
Abstract
For Patrick (Paddy) Goggin there was no rush for glory. There was no thirst to enlist for King or country. In fact, it could be argued that he had no interest in the business of war at all. August 1914 came and went, so did the first Anzac day and later the Australian withdrawal from Gallipoli. Still Paddy did not stir from his life in Yass in the New South Wales countryside.
We will never really know what persuaded Paddy to join up. Given his strong Irish bloodlines, loyalty to the crown was unlikely to dig at his conscience. More than likely he enlisted for the same reasons that motivated thousands of young Australians; because it seemed the right thing to do at the time, a bit of adventure in a lacklustre time.
