Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

On this day in 1942, SX7246 Private Gordon Franklin, 2/24th Battalion, of Cleve SA, was killed in action during the Second Battle of El Alamein.
Gordon Franklin was born on 1 March 1908 at Cleve and was the son of Joseph Franklin and Mary Ellen Berryman. His father Joseph was the son of George Standley and an Aboriginal woman known as “Black Mary”. Joseph and Mary Ellen had a farm between Kimba and Dark Peak, held in Mary Ellen’s name because Joseph was Aboriginal. Gordon had a half-brother, George, and a half-sister, Matilda, from Mary Ellen’s previous marriage. He also had seven brothers, Joseph Clarence, Charles Shannon, Lesley, Norman, Arnold, Albert Lewis and Alfred Allan, and two sisters, Eline Gladys (who died aged 11) and Ivy Bird. All the Franklin men were keen runners, boxers and Australian Rules Football players. Gordon probably attended school at Cleve, and worked as a farm hand prior to enlisting for the Second World War.
Gordon enlisted in the Second Australian Imperial Force at Wayville on 29 June 1940, having travelled to Adelaide where he would not be known as Aboriginal and avoid rejection for that reason.
He joined the 2/24th Battalion, 26th Brigade, in November 1941 when it was garrisoning Vichy Syria and Lebanon. In June and early July 1942, the battalion, now part of the 9th Division, was sent to Egypt to reinforce the Allied defences at El Alamein. During the First Battle of El Alamein between 10 and 17 July, the division attacked the Tel el Eisa ridgeline against mostly stubborn Axis resistance and fierce counterattacks.
The next major attack the 2/24th was involved in was during the Second Battle of El Alamein, which began on 23 October with a 1,000-gun artillery barrage on the Axis positions. Two days into the offensive, it was decided that the 9th Division would thrust northwards. The 26th Brigade attacked at midnight as part of an attempt to cut off a German division and Italian troops. Their attack was supported by 30 tanks and artillery, and they captured a hill, Point 29, which was crucial to the Axis defences. Fighting in the area continued on 28 and 29 October, but the 26th Brigade was brought to a standstill by fierce Axis resistance. Over the next two days, the Australians continued to push forward, and managed to partially close the Axis salient. During the fighting on 31 October, Gordon was killed in action.
Gordon was initially buried in the Tel el Eisa Military Cemetery on 6 November, but was subsequently re-interred in the El Alamein War Cemetery.
The shock of Gordon’s death affected Mary Ellen badly, and she never got over it, dying on 14 October 1943. After she died, because the farm was in her name and Joseph was an Aboriginal man, the farm was sold and bank accounts closed, with Joseph being given two pounds.
On 28 October 1948, Gordon’s family put a notice in the Port Lincoln Times, one of several over the years. It read:
"A beautiful nature full of kind deeds
A helping hand to all in need
A beautiful smile, a heart of gold
A memory for us to cherish and hold
It does not take a special day
To bring you back to mind
The days we do not think of you
Are very hard to find
Loved by all who knew him."
Lest we forget.
Ian Smith
Chair
Anzac Day Committee
Gordon Franklin: Army Record
Colourised image courtesy of Stuart Hamilton