Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Completed by Ceduna Area School

Gordon Desmond Combe was born on June 12th,1917, at Gumeracha in the Adelaide Hills. His father George was a baker and his mother Ethel was busy caring for five children. After the family moved to Adelaide in 1923, Gordon was educated at North Adelaide and East Adelaide Primary Schools and Norwood High School (Snowball 2025).

After graduating high school Gordon began working at the State Bank of South Australia in Pirie Street in Adelaide in 1934. Three years later Gordon was posted to Loxton on the River Murray. It was here that he met his future wife Margaret Eley, who at the time was working as a telephonist in the Loxton Post Office. Gordon was an avid sportsman being captain of the 1938 Premiership Imperial Football Team. (Snowball 2025).

Gordon returned to Adelaide studying a Bachelor of Economics Degree, whilst also playing A grade cricket and interstate soccer. He became a clerk in the office of The House of Assembly in the Parliament of South Australia, on the 2/1/1940. The War in Europe had been going on for over a year and on the 29/6/1940 Gordon enlisted into the A.I.F. at Wayville (Naa.gov.au, 2015). Not long after, on 6/7/1940 he marched from the Showgrounds to Keswick Railway Station where 150 men boarded the train for Woodside in the Adelaide Hills for further training. Gordon was assigned to the 2nd/43rd Infantry Battalion (vwma.gov.au, 2025)

Over the next 6 months Gordon and the 2/43 Battalion trained in preparation for service overseas. The recruits came from all around South Australia and Broken Hill. Their lives were now under a strict routine and training included practising at the Port Adelaide rifle range and military tactical exercises (Snowball 2025).

Gordon and Margaret announced their engagement in October, planning to be married on the 21/12/1940, but the wedding was brought forward to 28/11/1940 because he would be embarking soon. The newlyweds had a weekend honeymoon and travelled to Pt Noarlunga, Gordon then returned to return to his battalion to prepare for departure (Snowball 2025).

On 28/12/1940 the battalion travelled to Melbourne and left the next day on R.M.S. Mauretania via Fremantle to Colombo where they transferred to a much smaller 30 year old coal burner H.M.T. Nevasa (Awm.gov.au, 2025). They arrived at the southern entrance to the Suez Canal before disembarking and travelling to Palestine by train, where they would commence training (Awm.gov.au, 2025).

The 2nd/43rd went into camp at Khassa, north of Gaza (Awm.gov.au,2025). Within a fortnight of arriving in Palestine, Gordon was selected with four others from the 2nd/43rd, to attend the Middle East Officer Cadet Training Unit at Abbassia, Cairo (Awm.gov.au, 2025). Gordon was appointed as a Lieutenant on 21/6/1941 and was eager to rejoin the 2nd/43rd who were very actively involved in the defence of Tobruk (Naa.gov.au, 2015). After 5 weeks in Palestine and 3 in 
Alexandria he rejoined the unit to command No. 18 platoon in Don Company (Naa.gov.au, 2015). Gordon did night reconnaissance patrols with others from the platoon over flat, featureless desert looking for enemy minefields and slept during the day. He looked forward to receiving letters and parcels from home and wrote letters in the dugout by the light of a candle burning on a cigarette tin (Snowball, 2025). Gordon wrote, “I had spent only some six weeks in the fortress area, but the Battalion including the originals in my platoon, had spent over six months besieged in this area.” (Snowball, 2025).

During the following months the Australians withstood and held their position at Tobruk against enemy attacks. In September and October the majority of the Australian force including Gordon were evacuated by sea. The 2nd/43rd evacuated Tobruk in the early hours of the 17th of October and sailed to Alexandria (awm.gov.au, 2025). From there they transferred to the camp at Kilo 89 in Palestine where they spent the rest of 1941 and the first two weeks of 1942 recuperating, before moving to Syria and then Lebanon for further rest, training, and garrison duties (awm.gov.au, 2025). It was during this time that Gordon and the 2nd/43rd became known as the ‘Rats of Tobruk’, this was one of the highest honours for Australian soldiers. This name originated as an insult by a Nazi propaganda broadcaster, but the Australians proudly adopted the term disempowering the derogatory name, honouring their determination and hard work of the Australian soldiers. (Rats of Tobruk Association, 2024).

On 28/6/1942 the 2nd/43rd moved to El Alamein on the northern coast of Egypt to engage the German and Italian troops (awm.gov.au, 2025). It was here that Gordon was wounded in the face by schrapnel from an air-burst shell on July 17th. He spent eleven days in a British hospital in Alexandria recovering and then determinedly returned to the battalion in early September (Snowball, 2025).
Relief from the ongoing battles finally came on the 24/1/1943 when the battalion including Gordon embarked on the Queen Mary destined to return home (Naa.gov.au, 2015). The ship arrived in Sydney Harbour on 27th of February and then Gordon travelled by train to Adelaide for three weeks leave (Snowball, 2025).

At the end of March the battalion travelled by train to the Atherton Tablelands in Queensland for jungle training prior to leaving in early August for New Guinea (Snowball, 2025). Upon arrival in New Guinea the 2nd/43rd Battalion were involved in the campaign to capture Lae, which began in September 1943. This was part of the Allied effort to secure the Huon Peninsula and advance through New Guinea, countering Japanese positions in the region (awm.gov.au, 2025). The jungles of New Guinea were a stark difference to the weather, landscape and climate of Egypt and home, providing additional challenges for Gordon and the 2nd/43rd.

On the 3rd of October at Staleberg, Gordon was in command during an attack on a strong Japanese position, which was across open ground. They were met with heavy machine gun and mortar fire. Gordon was wounded when some shrapnel glanced off his Owen gun and lodged in his chest. He refused medical treatment and joined his forward platoons, moving from each one to encourage (Trove, 2025). The schrapnel was removed in a surgical tent on the beach and from there he was evacuated to Port Moresby (Trove, 2025).

In early 1944 while on leave in Adelaide, Godon was hospitalized with Malaria (Naa.gov.au, 2015). Whilst on leave he was notified that he had been awarded the Military Cross for outstanding leadership, coolness and courage with the events at Staleberg (Rats of Trobuk Association, 2024).

In 1945 the 2nd/43rd moved to Borneo for their last campaign. Gordon’s older brother Bernard was also in Borneo serving with the R.A.A.F. Gordon travelled by train and jeep to a Labuan Beach where the brothers swam and spent the day together (Snowball, 2025).

Gordon returned home to Adelaide to his loved ones on November 5, 1945, and was discharged from service two days later (Naa.gov.au, 2015). After the war, he resumed his career at Parliament House, where he served as the Clerk of the House of Assembly from 1953 to 1972 (Snowball, 2025). In 1972, he was appointed as South Australia's first Ombudsman, a position he held until his retirement in 1980. (SA, O, 2023)

Gordon was deeply committed to community service. He was a member of the Legacy Club of Adelaide for four decades, dedicating himself to supporting the widows and children of deceased ex-servicemen (Snowball, 2025). Additionally, he was actively involved with the Rats of Tobruk and the 2nd/43rd Battalion Club (Snowball, 2025). In recognition of his distinguished career, Gordon was honoured as a Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George (C.M.G.) by Her Majesty the Queen for his contributions to parliamentary and community service (Snowball, 2025).

A talented sportsman, Gordon played "A" grade cricket as a wicketkeeper with East Torrens for several years. He also excelled in soccer, playing First Division for Sturt from 1934 to 1951. In 1950, he was one of two South Australians selected to represent Australia against England at the Adelaide Oval (Snowball, 2025).

Gordon and his wife, Margaret, had five children: Elizabeth, Barbara, Josephine, Andrew, and Debra (Snowball, 2025). Despite his remarkable life and achievements, all five children agreed that Gordon rarely spoke about his experiences during the war. Gordon continued to live a long happy life with his wife until she passed away in 1997. Gordon passed away of natural causes 10th of June 2002, aged 84 (Ancestry.com.au, 2021). Both were loved and appreciated very much by their family and friends.

Reference List

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