Gascoigne entered the
Royal Military College, Sandhurst and was
commissioned as a
second lieutenant into the
Grenadier Guards in 1923. From 1927 to 1928, he served as
aide de camp to
Sir Stanley Jackson, the then Governor of Bengal. He was an instructor at Sandhurst in 1935, and attended the
Staff College, Camberley from 1938 to 1939. During the early part of the
Second World War, from 1939 to 1941, Gascoigne served as a
staff officer in and around London. He was
Commanding Officer of the 1st Battalion, Grenadier Guards from 1941 to 1942, and of the
201st Guards Motor Brigade from 1942 to 1943. He saw active service in Egypt, Syria, North Africa and Italy. He fought at the Battle of Alamein, with the
Eighth Army in Tunis, and in
Salerno as part of the
Allied invasion of Italy. He was seriously wounded during fighting at
Monte Camino in 1943, and was evacuated back to the UK where he spent time recuperating in hospital. He was an instructor at the Staff College, Camberley from 1944 until the end of the war. After the war, he attended the
Imperial Defence College in 1946. From 1947 to 1949, he served as Deputy Commander of the
British Joint Services Mission in
Washington, D.C. He was appointed
Major-General commanding the Household Brigade and
General Officer Commanding London District in 1950. During his time as "The Major General", he oversaw the
funeral of King George VI and the
coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Gascoigne retired from the army in 1953. ==Later career==