Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

The biography of my father’s war service during World War II is much more than a chronicle of dates. I believe that it is a recount of unparalleled commitment and courage, dedication and bravery. It is not surprising that an 18-year-old Gordon William held a powerful desire to serve his country when war broke out in 1939. Gordon came from a family that had given service without question. His own father, John Hughes, an immensely proud Scot, served with the Seaforth Highlanders in WW1 and only lived because he survived being injured on three separate occasions. Two gunshot wounds (foot and arm) and being gassed. In WW2, then aged 44years, and living in Adelaide, Jock, enlisted in the army and spent 4 years travelling South Australia training others in the use of weapons. A role model for his son.

Gordon's maternal uncle, Charles William White, and Grandfather William both served in the Royal Navy in WW1 when their fishing vessels were requisitioned for war service. Uncle Charlie lost his life when his ship hit a German mine in the North Sea. Gordon had grown up with the stories of the bravery of his forebearers and his decision to enlist was without doubt based on his desire to respond to a call to duty that resonated deeply within him and that continued his family’s tradition of patriotism.

Gordon began with Home Training and camps based in Mt Gambier which led directly to him enlisting in the Australian Army on the 5 April 1941 posted as a corporal to the 4th MD Ordnance Division based in Mt Gambier. This appointment enabled him to join the 3rd Light Horse regiment that had been re-raised and converted to a reconnaissance squadron. For a period, photos show Gordon enthusiastically engaged in training. However, only a year later, Gordon came to know that he would not see active service if he stayed in his current position. In fact, the Light Horse Brigade was to be disbanded! Gordon requested and was given an exemption to be discharged from the Army in order to join the Royal Australian Airforce.   He was discharged from the Army on 15 January 1942 and enlisted in the RAAF on the 31st January 1942, 16 days later. Gordon was 20 years old.

Gordon’s life and his engagement with World War 2 outside of Australia came together through his service with the Royal Australian Airforce. The R.A.A.F. was formed on 31 March 1921 and Gordon’s birthday was 27 March 1921 so maybe he was destined to become an aviator.

Gordon completed basic training in Australia and was chosen as a Wireless operator. His small stature allowed him to fit comfortably at the navigator station. Multi-engine planes required a WO to take off. He continued training at Camp Myles Standish, Taunton, Massachusetts, before arriving in the UK on 17 March 1943, just before his 22nd birthday. Rigorous training followed and Gordon studied hard to acquire the necessary technical skills to become competent to undertake his role as Wireless Operator, Observer and Air Gunner. He had to take bearings and fixed positions from ground transmitters. He could ‘jam’ transmissions from German fighter controls. He was the crew’s link to the base using Morse Code. At other times Gordon filled in as a rear gunner. Gordon passed the required examinations, and this wasn’t surprising as he frequently wrote in his diary that he was studying for a particular exam and although worried, he always passed, and he wrote of surprising himself with how well he had achieved.  Gordon’s unwavering dedication to his role was driven by knowing that the crew relied on him. He wanted to earn their trust.

Gordon recorded his training flights in his logbook and his journey can be followed as he moved into regular Bomber Command squadrons. The first was 50 SQDN where the pilot was David Jennings, nicknamed ‘Curly’ due to his curly hair. By then Gordon was flying Lancaster bombers. By January 1944, 50 Squadron had commenced regular operations over Germany.  Of special mention was The Battle of Britain. In April 1944, Gordon and his crew were invited to join The Pathfinder Force (PFF). This was a highly specialised force dedicated to target marking for the rest of Bomber Command. PFF crews functioned as guides and leaders on the long routes to the targets. Only the best crews were offered the chance of becoming Pathfinders. All PFF aircrew were volunteers, and the offer could be refused. PFF aircrew were elite but remained part of Bomber Command and could return to the main force if they did not maintain their status.  They wore a special badge. Although aware of the extra responsibility and danger Gordon was proud to be a Pathfinder and the eagle badge can be seen on his uniform.

By April 1944, Gordon and his crew were part of the 83rd Squadron and had their own plane, OL-A (Able). Gordon wrote in his diary about previously flying in G for George, the Lancaster that is on display at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. 

Throughout his Logbook Gordon details the target of each operation and when the success of the operation is reported in the newspaper of the day, he cut out the clipping and pasted it next to the details of the operation. This certainly provides a great record. At times Gordon wrote of the extreme sadness when flight crew members killed. Gordon had made a friend, Allan Johns, when he was standing in the enlistment line in Adelaide. They joined on the same day, trained together and travelled to the UK together but they were not in the same crew. When Gordon hears that Allan’s plane is missing, he writes “Allan, my best cobber was the WOP, I hope to hell he bailed out. A chap couldn’t have had a finer pal, we went together ever since we joined up and now it’s all memories. I shall have to write to his people”.  At another time two of his close mates were lost and Gordon described how awful it was to see their belongings being removed from their hut.  He writes “At this moment I feel like crying, I treated them as brothers, no finer chaps ever lived. Con was the very epic of courage, a fighter. Pete a very fine companion. Death certainly didn’t show any favours. We had all learned to love one another, sleeping eating, joking together, we have been as brothers. We all got on famously.” Con was married with a 16-month-old child.  Gordon described how ‘grim’ it was meeting Pete’s father and attending his funeral in Cambridge. At another time in his diary Gordon expresses his concern that ‘his girl’, Thelma, would be better off not waiting for him as he understands that at any time, he may be the next casualty and it isn’t fair on Thelma to wait for him. Whether or not he writes and tells her we don’t know.

With these and other insights we can ‘feel’ the camaraderie with fellow airmen and Gordon also writes about valuing the ground crew as he appreciates their role. He also prefers commanding officers who fly and don’t just ‘bark’ orders. Gordon values rigorous inspections to ensure the plane's reliability. He shows bravery, courage, and mental fortitude. He is ready to fly anytime, day or night.

In August 1944, Gordon and his aircrew completed their first tour of 30 operations. On their 40th mission, their luck ran out. Ordered to pose for a photo in front of a Lancaster plane prior to their flight, the crew believed it was bad luck and initially refused. They were then rounded up and had the photo taken. Perhaps they were right!

On 11 November 1944, their 40th mission, the target was oil refineries at Harburg, Germany. OL-A was struck by flak causing two engines to catch fire. Gordon later recounted that upon realising the aircraft was ablaze, he proceeded to retrieve fire extinguishers and observed the pilot along with two other crew members preparing to bail out. Recognizing the necessity to also evacuate, he found himself on the wrong side of the internal fire and needed to traverse the flames to reach his parachute. He worked his way towards the rear door, encountering burning oil recuperators and bullets discharging from ammunition panniers. Gordon navigated through the flames and encountered another crew member prepared to bail out, subsequently following him headfirst.

Gordon landed in water but successfully reached the bank and removed his parachute. He endeavoured to remain clear-headed and evade capture, not immediately realising the severity of burns sustained while exiting the aircraft. A farmer discovered him a couple of days later repeatedly yelling “Alles kaputt!” which Gordon later understood meant “All smashed up.” The farmer mentioned ‘Gestapo,’ however, Gordon responded with ‘Luftwaffe.’ Eventually, Gordon was taken to a gathering point where he saw Curly, his pilot. Initially unrecognized by Curly due to his swollen face, eyes, lips, and hands, Gordon managed to croak his name prompting Curly to turn back. This fortunate encounter allowed Curly to assist Gordon with basic needs for about a week until he was admitted to Homar Hospital (23-28/11) receiving treatment particularly for his face and eyes.

Following Homar Hospital, Gordon was transferred to Obermastfield Hospital where captured soldiers from Dunkirk served as orderlies. Here, an English surgeon, Major Sherman, performed skin grafts significantly improving Gordon’s burns. Subsequently, Gordon spent Christmas at his third hospital, Meiningen, describing it as a former music conservatorium situated in a valley surrounded by gasworks, a brewery, park, and railway station. He appreciated receiving an American POW parcel as a Christmas gift and managed to listen to BBC news nightly through various means.

After nearly a month, the doctor informed Gordon that increasing casualties necessitated a transfer to Sagan, Stalag Luft III, a POW camp for captured officers of enemy Air Force. This was despite Gordon requiring further months of treatment. Alongside forty other patients including thirty-six Americans, three Canadians, two English, and himself, Gordon travelled by train. He expressed concern regarding possible RAF strafing during the journey.

Gordon arrived safely at Stalag Luft 3 on 15th January 1944 and became part of North Compound in hut 119. His time there lasted just over a year, as on 28 January 1945 the prisoners of war were force-marched out due to the advancing Russian army and Hitler's fear that they would be liberated. January and February 1945 were among the coldest winter months of the 20th century in Europe, with blizzards and temperatures dropping as low as –25°C. The extreme cold, snow, and ice made walking exceptionally difficult, resulting in many casualties among the prisoners. Initially, the prisoners, including Gordon, carried as much food as possible, but this proved to be too cumbersome, and items were abandoned along the way. Sledges were fashioned by some, but these had to be discarded when the roads turned slushy.

 After some days Gordon writes, “ ...ever since the morning I had seen chaps falling out on the wayside, and now I reckon I had reached that stage, so I just laid in the snow with four other chaps, and we didn’t give a damn what happened. We saw the column disappear. Then about an hour later 3 Jerries came along. Meanwhile we could have escaped, but it was impossible to walk 20yards to a forest the way we felt and anyway we would only die of exposure. The Jerries poked their rifles at our stomachs and said, ‘Get moving’. It’s remarkable but the other chaps and me decided we didn’t want to die right then so we struggled up and we had only gone 50 yards when a horse and cart came along. The soldiers said if we gave the driver a few cigarettes we could have a ride. So, we did. We went about 8-10 kilometres and were dumped off at the head of the column. We marched better and kept up in the afternoon and after about another 10 kms we reached Muskau where it was dark, and we were put in a cinema, and it was heated. How good it was . . .”

The history of the Long March is well documented and will never be forgotten. The family of POWs often make the walk or part of it in the memory of their loved one. This year marked the 80th anniversary.  When I read well referenced and documented accounts of the Long March from Stalag Luft 3 to Lubeck (approx. 279 Kms) they don’t differ from my father’s account which of course he wrote in his diary once liberated. It is emotional to read, and I wonder how he survived. Many of course did not. In part I believe his survival was due to his close friendship with ‘Smash’ Gunnel with whom he shared ‘residency’ in his hut in the Stalag Luft3 Camp.  ‘Smash’ wasn’t his proper name of course. I don’t know what it was, but he was an RAF fighter from Birmingham, and he could speak German so this must have been an asset.  Smash and my Dad loved making things and they made amazing things from tins. At one time in his diary my father describes Smash collecting over 100 tins in the camp and them making an oven to cook ‘cakes’! The other POWs loved it. My father could always turn his hand to anything. These two stuck together and perhaps saved each other’s lives. A bit of luck thrown in also must surely have helped Gordon survive. Was it luck that when my father was captured and in an unbelievably bad physical state, Curly walked past him and could stay with him and keep him alive until he got to a doctor? And then, it is almost incredible how my injured father was saved during the Long March by a horse and cart. I am so grateful! Maybe his youth helped him somewhat as he was only 23 years old and perhaps, he just possessed an extra amount of resilience that may have been driven by knowing that he had ‘a girl’ waiting for him home in Australia (that he went on to marry) and parents who loved him.

My father’s life was shortened by his war injuries, and he died in 1982 at the age of 61. I reached adulthood having him as a mentor throughout my childhood. I understood his war experiences better after his death, and now I am writing this biography for future family members to read.