MAXFIELD, Gordon Loris
| Service Number: | Officer |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 3 March 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Captain |
| Last Unit: | 24th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Euroa, Victoria, Australia, 20 March 1890 |
| Home Town: | Wonthaggi, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Accountant/Auditor |
| Died: | Killed In Action, France, 3 May 1917, aged 27 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" |
| Memorials: | Euroa Fallen of Euroa District Honour Roll, Euroa School No 1706 Roll of Honour, Euroa St. Paul's Anglican Church Captain Gordon Maxfield Memorial Plaque, Euroa Telegraph Park, Euroa War Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial (Australian National Memorial - France) |
World War 1 Service
| 3 Mar 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Second Lieutenant, Officer, 21st Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 10 May 1915: | Involvement 24th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '13' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Ulysses embarkation_ship_number: A38 public_note: '' | |
| 10 May 1915: | Embarked 24th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ulysses, Melbourne | |
| 23 Aug 1916: | Promoted AIF WW1, Captain, 21st Infantry Battalion, Also as Adjuntant | |
| 17 Mar 1917: | Transferred AIF WW1, Captain, 24th Infantry Battalion | |
| 3 May 1917: | Involvement Captain, 24th Infantry Battalion, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: awm_unit: 24 Battalion awm_rank: Captain awm_died_date: 1917-05-03 | |
| 29 Jun 1917: | Honoured Military Cross, Battle for Pozières , From 26th March 1916 at Fleuebaix, Rue Marle and on to the Somme (latter as Adjutant) in operations at Pozieres |
By Joe Rossignuolo, Montbrehain Centenary Group
My wife Hilary grew up in Euroa. She attended the Anglican Church in Euroa and for many years she looked up at the plaque in memory of Captain Gordon Maxfield who died in WW1. I did some research and found that Maxfield was in the 24th battalion. He died at the second Bullecourt. While in France for the Montbrehain commemoration we found where Maxfield died. He and many others perished in what is now fields planted with crops. There is a cairn erected by the road between Bullecourt and Reincourt which commemorates all the soldiers that died there and have no grave. The 6th and 5th Brigades attacked a re-entrant in the Hindenberg line between Bullecourt and Reincourt.The 24th and 22nd went together from the 6th Brigade on the left and the 5th Brigade on the right. The 5th Brigade got shot up badly from machine gun fire from Queant and the 22nd battalion got shot up badly from machine gun fire from Bullecourt on the left.The 24th battalion in the middle punched thru the German lines. Maxfield led his company well into the German line and was killed. Captain Stan Savige was one of the leaders of the 24th Bat. that day and had gone in with Maxfield. Stan Savige survived the War and went on to found Legacy. He became Lt General Sir Stanley Savige who command troops in NG in WW2. At the end of the day the 24th Bat was badly depleted. The 6th Brigade had hung on and enabled the eventual taking of the Bullecourt village. Carlyon calls them Gellibrand’s Martyrs in his book.
Submitted 16 November 2018 by Evan Evans
Biography contributed by Faithe Jones
Captain Gordon Maxfield, who has been awarded the Military Cross, is the eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. J. E. Maxfield, of Kirkland street, Euroa. Prior to enlisting he was in a Government position at Wonthaggi. He began his military career as a lieutenant in the citizen forces, and went abroad holding that rank with the 21st (Victorian) Battalion. He was aboard the Southland when that vessel was torpedoed, and served at Gallipoli until the evacuation, when he had the honor of being among the last 200 men in the Lone Pine trenches.
With his battalion he went to France, where he gained his captaincy. He took part in the fierce fighting at Pozieres Ridge and Mouquet Farm, and it is thought probable that he gained his distinction in those engagements.
Weekly Times (Vic), 7 April 1917.
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