GORDON, Kenneth Douglas
| Service Number: | 1144 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 26 October 1914, Morphettville, South Australia |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 10th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Port Pirie, South Australia, Australia , 30 May 1886 |
| Home Town: | Port Adelaide, Port Adelaide Enfield, South Australia |
| Schooling: | St. Peters College, Adelaide, South Australia |
| Occupation: | Clerk |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Gallipoli, Turkey, 25 April 1915, aged 28 years |
| Cemetery: |
Lone Pine Cemetery, ANZAC L 11 |
| Memorials: | Adelaide National War Memorial, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Glenelg St Michael's Memorial Chapel CHORISTERS Memorial Window, Glenelg and District WW1 & WW2 Honour Board, Hackney St Peter's College Fallen Honour Board, Roseworthy Agricultural College Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 26 Oct 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Morphettville, South Australia | |
|---|---|---|
| 27 Dec 1914: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 1144, 10th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '10' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Themistocles embarkation_ship_number: A32 public_note: '' | |
| 27 Dec 1914: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 1144, 10th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Themistocles, Melbourne |
Reported Missing
"PRIVATE K. D. GORDON.
Private K. D. Gordon, who is reported missing, is the second son of the late Mr. Jamen Gordon, of Glenelg, who for many years was police magistrat at Adelaide, and a nephew of his Honor Mr. Justice Gordon. Private Gordon enlisted with his brother, Mr. Leslie Gordon. LL.B., who gave up a lucrative and growing practice at the bar to serve his country, and the two went away with the same contingent. Private K. D. Gordon, who is about 25 years of age, was educated at St. Peter's College. He joined the staff of the Eastern Extension Cable Company, and during his service with the company went to a number of foreign stations, including Singapore and Cocos Island. He left the Company and became manager of the Port Adelaide shipping business of Messrs. Malcolm Reid &. Co., a position he held when he volunteered. His mother lives at Glenelg." - from the Adelaide Advertiser 25 Jun 1915
"SGT. K. D. GORDON.
Sgt. K. D. Gordon, who is reported in the forty-third casualty list as being among the missing Australians in the fighting at Gallipoli, is a son of the late Mr. James Gordon, S.M., and Mrs. Gordon, of Glenelg, a brother of Mr. J. L. Gordon (who was the first Adelaide solicitor to enlist for service at the war), and a nephew of His Honor Mr. Justice Gordon. Before going to the front he was manager for a well-known firm at Port Adelaide. He was prominent in athletic circles, and in addition to being a champion amateur swimmer, was a tennis player of more than ordinary ability." - from the Adelaide Register 26 Jun 1915
Submitted 23 February 2016 by Elsa Reuter
Biography
From the book Fallen Saints, by Robert Kearney
Kenneth Douglas Gordon of Glenelg, South Australia was born at Port Pirie in 1886. He had been a timber merchant before the war until employed by the Eastern Extension Cable Company and stationed for a short time as a clerk and telegraphist on the Cocos Islands.
Kenneth enlisted at Morphettville in October 1914 and was one of the 100 other ranks under the command of Second Lieutenant Albert Rowe that made up the 10th Battalion’s first quota of reinforcements. They sailed from Melbourne aboard HMAT Themistocles in late December and joined the battalion at Mena Camp in early February.
After further training in Egypt, he proceeded to Gallipoli, took part in the landing on 25 April, and was last sighted in the early hours of the morning.
Although on 2 May he was listed as ‘missing’ someone had obviously seen him fall for on 23 October his status was changed to ‘wounded and missing.’
In a letter dated 28 May 1915, Staff Sergeant James Gordon (OS) 4th Field Ambulance[1] wrote stating Captain Fry had told him his brother, Kenneth was wounded while helping an injured man to shelter. [i]
In the hope of gaining further information about her son, still listed as ‘wounded and missing’, Mrs Mary Gordon wrote to the OIC Base Records in September to inform him she believed Doctor Fry had treated her son’s wounds and placed him aboard a hospital ship. Since no one had seen or heard anything of her son, she asked ‘if he died at sea, would he be buried with no identification? ...’ [ii]
The confusion about Kenneth’s death, treatment and burial may have been created by incorrect information being provided to Captain Henry Fry who was at the time trying desperately to save so many other men.
These few words published in an Adelaide newspaper on 29 April 1916 provide an insight into Kenneth’s life before the war. He was well known in athletic circles and much beloved by a large number of friends for his kindly and merry disposition and his sterling character. [iii]
In 1917, Base Records enquired if Mrs Gordon had received postcards or mail or heard anymore of her son from his friends, since he was listed missing in 1915.
Mrs Gordon wrote back in July informing the OIC that by cabling the American Ambassador in Constantinople she had ‘learned that he was not a prisoner of war.’ She had also cabled ‘various agents in Egypt’ and discovered he had never been in hospital there and that the last letter she received was from Lemnos dated 17April 1915. [iv] She further advised that a friend, Benjamin Franklin had some time later reported seeing Kenneth standing on a hill at noon on the day of the landing.
The finding of a Court of Inquiry convened at Rouen France in September 1917 was that 1144 Private Kenneth Douglas Gordon was killed in action on or about 25 April 1915; he was 28 years of age.
[1] Staff Sergeant James Gordon was killed in action on 24 July 1915.
[i] National Australia Archives: B 2455, Gordon James Leslie / 4787396, viewed 3 July 2005
[ii] ibid., Gordon Kenneth Douglas / 4787452, viewed 23 May 2006
[iii] Adelaide Chronicle, 29 April 1916, p. 40
[iv] ibid
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