Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Gordon was born at Eudunda, in South Australia, on 9th March 1913, the youngest child of George and Dinah Alder and he was a bright and cheery lad right from birth. As soon as he was able to hold a whip, Gordon would help his dad drive bullocks. Gordon attended school at Cockburn and was an excellent student, He was also an excellent hand with machinery of all descriptions and prior to WWII he worked with his eldest brother, George, on earth moving plant around Mount Sturt Station. He remained with George until joining the A.I.F.

He enlisted at Wayville in Adelaide SA on the 3rd. August 1940 and saw service overseas in the Middle East from 5-2-1941 to 15-3-1942. He was originally a reinforcement for the 2/27th Infantry Battalion, however he was eventually posted to the 21 Australian Infantry Training Battalion spending time in Syria. 

Gordon then served in the South West Pacific, including New Guinea landing at Port Moresby on 17-8-1942 and remained until 30-1-1943, serving with the 7th Division Emp Platoon.  On returning from this stint to Cairns aboard HMAT Duntroon, he spent 7 days enjoying the delights of Cairns which ended up costing him 7 days pay. 

He was posted to the 7th Division Salvage Unit on the 24th of April 1943; the unit he stayed with until wars end; and then had a second trip to New Guinea from 30-7-1943 to 15-1-1944.

After returning to Brisbane for a period, with the 7th Division he then landed in Moratai and then Balikpapan, Borneo serving there from 29-5-1945 to 20-11-1945.  During this time  Gordon had managed to keep in contact with his nephew: Fred Sharon (443875) who was serving at Tarakan;  and suggested to him that as a RAAF member could he possibly organise a flight to Balikpapan to visit him.  Fred could not get official permission to make the trip and if anything happened that he could not make it back to Tarakan within a reasonable time he could be classed as a deserter for which the consequences would be severe.  Fred stayed in Tarakan and they never did meet up during the war.

Gordon left to return to Australia on 12-11-45 and was discharged on the 27th November 1945 at Hampstead Barracks in Adelaide.  After his discharge Gordon worked underground on the Zinc Corporation Mine in Broken Hill.  In 1960, Gordon married Pearl Shepherd. He died on 13th February 1977, less than a month before his sixty fourth birthday.

Movements of 7th Division Salvage Unit during WWII, after Gordon joined the Unit.

Embarked — 30 Jul 1943 — Townsville

Disembarked — 4 Aug 1943 — New Guinea

Embarked — 29 Apr 1944

Disembarked — 12 May 1944 — Sydney

Embarked — 28 May 1945 — Brisbane

Disembarked — 12 Jun 1945 — Morotai

Embarked — 27 Jun 1945

Disembarked — 5 Jul 1945 — Balikpapan

Embarked   Sep 1945 — Balikpapan

For his time served with the A.I.F., Gordon received the following service medals:

39 / 45 Star - Africa Star - Pacific Star - Defence Medal - 39 / 45 War Medal - 39 / 45 General Service Medal.