Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Biography - James Gordon Lawson - 1502

James Gordon Lawson was born in 1895 at Balmain, NSW¹ into the presbyterian family of James McMurtie Lawson, his father, and Jane Lawson, his mother. James Gordon was the youngest child of his 5 sisters and lived at New South Head Road, Rose Bay, Sydney. He enrolled at Sydney Technical High School in 1910² and attended from 1911-1913 however, he didn’t achieve very high results in his studies. He was enrolled as a lieutenant in the Balmain Senior Cadets as well as a Trooper in the Sydney Lancers. He had also worked and trained under his father’s company Fox and Lawson as a coppersmith. Lawson was unmarried and had no children before enlisting in the Australian Imperial Force on the 1st October 1915.³

James Lawson Gordon embarked on the 2nd of November 1915 aboard the HMAT A14 Euripides. He was a member of the 7th Light Horse Regiment as a part of the 2nd Light Horse Brigade under the rank of private. He moved through the ranks eventually promoted to temporary Sergeant in August 1916, but reverted back to Corporal soon after. Lawson had been sent to act as reinforcements since the regiment had landed earlier in the year on the 1st of February in Egypt. The regiment had fought defensively on the far right of the ANZAC line and had eventually left on the 20th of December 1915 where they then aided British forces in the Sinai Campaign.⁴ The campaign’s purpose was to take control of the Suez Canal which was one of the few places that allowed Turkish forces to cross from Palsetine to Egypt. The brigade as well as forces from New Zealand were ordered to control the area of Romani after a surprise attack destroyed an outpost on the 23rd of April 1916.⁵ This eventually led to one of the most significant events of the campaign, the battle of Romani lasting from the 4th of August to the 5th of August.⁶ British forces were outnumbered by the Turkish attack forcing them to retreat. However, the 1st and 2nd Light Horse Brigade marched on foot with bayonets and successfully repelled the attack which defeated much of the remaining Turkish Resistance.⁷ The campaign eventually ended on 28th of February 1917 when the Allied forces defeated the remaining Turkish force at the canal and took control of the area.⁸ The next major battle that featured the 2nd Light Horse Brigade was the First Amman Raid starting on the 22nd of March 1918.⁹ The goal of the raid was to stop the railway communications between Turkish forces and Damascus. The attacking force included the 2nd Light Horse Brigade, the New Zealand Mounted Rifles and the cameleers who started the battle on the 27th of March 1918. The battle continued until the 30th March where the battle ended but was also when James Gordon Lawson was killed in action at the age of 22.¹⁰ 

James Gordon Lawson was buried at the Damascus British War Cemetery, Syria after the war.¹¹ He was awarded the 1914-15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal and was placed on the Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour and Sydney Technical High School WW1 Roll of Honour.¹² His grave inscription read “BELOVED YOUNGEST SON OF JAMES McM. AND JANE LAWSON HE DID HIS DUTY”.¹³ His father, James McMurtie Lawson, later passed on the 24th of February 1926.¹⁴ He was born in Scotland in 1852 and had come to Sydney under contract and had been running his business in the industry of coppersmith for 38 years before his passing.

Endnotes
1 Anonymous, Virtual War Memorial Australia (VWMA)

2 Anonymous, The AIF Project, UNSW Australia, Campbell ACT

3 VWMA, op. cit.

4 Anonymous, Hmong

5 Ibid

6 Ibid

7 Ibid

8 Ibid

9 VWMA, op. cit.

10 VWMA, op. cit.

11 AIF, op. cit.

12 VWMA, op. cit.

13 Anonymous, Commonwealth War Grave Commision

14 Anonymous, Sydney Morning Herald, 3 March 1926

Bibliography
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https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/U51041

Australian War Memorial, Battle of Romani, viewed on 5 July 2024,

https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/E84339

Australian War Memorial, First Amman Raid, viewed on 5 July 2024,

https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/E84825

Australia War Memorial, HMAT Euripides, viewed on 6 July 2024,

https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1236016

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https://www.awm.gov.au/learn/understanding-military-structure/rank

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https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10242637

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https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/E84837

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https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/897316/james-gordon-lawson/

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https://hmong.in.th/wiki/Sinai_and_Palestine_Campaign

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https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/12UTsqVkivQ_eD_2hVU-BYOBIx_pJe4Gj

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https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=172306

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https://vwma.org.au/explore/units/113

Virtual War Memorial Australia, James Gordon Lawson, viewed on 23 June 2024

https://vwma.org.au/explore/people/294319