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War Memorial
Australia

Alex Gordon was born to James and Ellen Gordon of Samsonvale. His wife when completing the Roll of Honour Circular stated he had attended Newmarket State School. It is possible that the Gordon family spent time at different periods both in the city and the country. When Alex presented himself for enlistment at the Brisbane recruiting depot on 30th September 1916, he gave his age as 23 years and 6 months and occupation as farmer, even though he gave his address as Brisbane. Alex was also married to Ivy but he stated they had no children.

Alex Gordon had enlisted on the same day, 30th September 1916, as another Strathpine man, Len Draper, whose story appears above. Both men were eventually placed into the same reinforcements for the 15th Battalion and their names appear on the same page of the embarkation roll. It is not inconceivable that Alex and Len had travelled to Brisbane to enlist together, as such occurrences were common among mates.

After signing up, Alex proceeded to Enoggera where he was initially placed into a depot battalion before being allocated as part of the 23rd reinforcements of the 15th Battalion. Seven weeks after enlisting, he boarded the “Beltana” in Sydney bound for England. The embarkation roll indicates that he had allotted 3/- of his daily pay to his wife, Ivy. Upon arrival in Devonport in January 1917, Alex was hospitalised with mumps, a common disease amongst new enlistments. By February, Alex had been posted to the 4th Training Battalion at Codford. While still at Codford, Alex was charged with letting a prisoner escape while on guard duty. He received 4 days Field Punishment #2 (offender usually shackled for 2 hours a day). On 22nd May, Alex was posted overseas and he joined his battalion on 12th June 1917 which was at that time holding the support line near Messines.

Alex spent the rest of 1917 with the 15th, apart from a brief spell of influenza. On 29th November he was promoted to Lance Corporal. The winter of 1917/18 was spent in relative comfort of winter quarters around Ypres and Messines (a new prefabricated building had been invented by a British Engineer, Maj Peter Nissen; the Nissen Hut which provided warm dry accommodation for soldiers).

With the signing of the surrender between Germany and Russia in 1917, the German command then had at its disposal some 60 divisions that could be redirected to the western front; but the timing was critical. Ludendorff (the German Field Commander) had to strike before the American Army became fully operational by the end of 1918. Operation Michael began on 21st March and the British 5th Army on the Somme broke in the face of the onslaught. Amiens was threatened and it seemed the Germans might actually win the war.

Brigades from the Australian divisions wintering in Belgium were rushed to the Somme in a line in front of Amiens.  The German advance was finally halted by Australians at Villers Brettoneux on 25th April. By May all five Australian divisions, which included Alex and his mates in the 15th, were on the Somme, some having travelled by London double decker buses.

On the night of the 5th/6th May on the defensive line in front of Villers Brettoneux, LCpl Gordon and another man went out into no man’s land to deal with a troublesome machine gun post. This type of active patrolling was encouraged by divisional officers in order to cause as much discomfort to the enemy as possible. Alex and his mate stalked the MG crew and began throwing bombs (hand grenades) once in range. The MG crew ran off and Alex manoeuvred the captured gun to train upon the fleeing Germans, causing a number of casualties. For this action, according to his wife, Alex received a congratulatory card from the Divisional Commander, Maj Gen Sinclair McLagan. It was also recommended that Alex be awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal. The recommendation was not forwarded to corps command until September 1918, by which time Alex had been killed. No DCM was awarded. The recommendation document is held in Alex’s file at the Australian War Memorial.

On 1st June, the five divisions were formally named as part of the Australian Corps; with Lieut General John Monash as Corps commander. Soon after his appointment, Monash convinced his superiors to allow him to plan and execute a small set piece battle employing new tactics at Hamel, just to the north of Villers Brettonneux. Monash planned the battle meticulously with infantry, artillery, tanks and aircraft all combining for maximum effect. The troops involved were all Australian (with the exception of one company of American infantry). Hamel began at 5:30am on 4th July. Monash estimated it would take 90 minutes to reach all objectives; it in fact took 93 minutes.

The 15th Battalion was heavily engaged at Hamel and once the objective line was reached, dug in to ward of any counterattack. While holding the line under a German artillery barrage on 6th July, Alex Gordon was severely wounded by shrapnel, sustaining major wounds to a shoulder and leg and breaking both arms. He was carried by stretcher to the Field Ambulance and then to a Casualty Clearing Station where he died from his wounds later that day. Alex was buried in a cemetery adjacent to the CCS with the Rev Wheeler officiating. The cemetery became the Crouey British Cemetery.

While Alex had been overseas his wife Ivy had been living with a number of friends or relatives. Once Alex’s death was confirmed by official correspondence, Ivy engaged solicitors to apply for probate and to claim on a life assurance policy. She wrote to the authorities enquiring about any of Alex’s personal effects but none were located. It is assumed that Ivy received a widow’s pension although there is no documentary evidence to support this. Ivy also received Alex’s medals, scroll and memorial plaque as well as three photographs of his grave.

Alexander's parents were James Gordon and Ellen Janet Veitch Grieve. He enlisted 30 September 1916 at Brisbane. He married Ivy Sewell before he embarked from Sydney, New South Wales, in November 1916. Alexander died of wounds on 6 July 1918 aged 25. He was recommended for the Distinguished Conduct Medal on 18 September 1918. Alexander's younger brother Robert Finlay Gordon [14699] also enlisted.