GORDON, Bernard Sidney
| Service Number: | 23 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 27 September 1915, Townsville, Queensland |
| Last Rank: | Lance Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 41st Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Launceston, Tasmania, 16 August 1891 |
| Home Town: | Launceston, Launceston, Tasmania |
| Schooling: | Daloraine & Devonport Schools |
| Occupation: | Cooper's Machinist (Dairy Farmer post-war) |
| Died: | Natural causes (pulmonary tuberculosis), Torquay, Queensland, 19 October 1963, aged 72 years |
| Cemetery: |
Mount Thompson Memorial Gardens & Crematorium, Queensland |
| Memorials: | Keith Payne VC Memorial Park, North Bondi War Memorial, Queensland Garden of Remembrance (Pinnaroo), Qld, Winchelsea WWI Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 27 Sep 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Townsville, Queensland | |
|---|---|---|
| 18 May 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 23, 41st Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '18' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Demosthenes embarkation_ship_number: A64 public_note: '' | |
| 18 May 1916: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 23, 41st Infantry Battalion, HMAT Demosthenes, Sydney | |
| 8 Jun 1918: | Involvement AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 23, 41st Infantry Battalion | |
| 19 Apr 1919: | Discharged AIF WW1 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Robert Kearney
Gordon, Bernard Sidney (1891–1963)
by James W. Courtney
Bernard Sidney Gordon (1891-1963), soldier and dairy farmer, was born on 16 August 1891 at Launceston, Tasmania, son of Charles Gordon, cabman and later hotel proprietor, and his wife Mary, née Rowlands. After schooling at Deloraine and Devonport he worked as a cooper's machinist at Beaconsfield. He later went to Townsville, Queensland, where he was in charge of remounts en route to India.
Gordon enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force at Townsville on 27 September 1915 and joined the 41st Battalion as a private, embarking for overseas service on the Demosthenes in May 1916. He remained with the battalion throughout the war, serving in France and Belgium where he was first wounded on 5 October 1917. In June 1918 he was promoted lance corporal.
In July 1918 the 41st Battalion, as part of the 11th Infantry Brigade, was involved in an attack on Hamel, and Gordon was awarded the Military Medal for gallant conduct. He was later awarded the Victoria Cross, for 'most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty on 26th-27th August, 1918, east of Bray'. In this action, the citation stated, Gordon displayed 'a wonderful example of fearless initiative'. He led his section through heavy shell-fire to its objective, which he consolidated. 'Single-handed he attacked an enemy machine-gun which was enfilading the company on his right, killed the man on the gun and captured the post, which contained one officer and ten men. He then cleaned up a trench, capturing twenty-nine prisoners and two machine-guns … Practically unaided, he captured, in the course of these operations, two officers and sixty-one other ranks, together with six machine-guns'.
Read more - https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/gordon-bernard-sidney-6426 (adb.anu.edu.au)
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