William Elliot Gordon

Forenames

William Elliot AWMM

Surname

Gordon AWMM

Service number

WWI 23/1646 AWMM

Gender

Male AWMM

Next of kin

WW1 Douglas Gordon (brother), Abbotts Road, Mount Eden, Auckland, New Zealand AWMM

War

World War I, 1914-1918 AWMM

Campaign

1917 AWMM Passchendaele AWMM

Armed force / branch

Army AWMM

Service number

WWI 23/1646 AWMM

Medals and Awards

• Military Medal (MM) AWMM
  British front Neuve Eglise sector opposite Messines - 24th March 1917. Under cover of an intense artillery and Winnenwerfer bombardment, lasting from 4am till 5.10am on the above date, the enemy raided a portion of our front line, about the Wulverghem - Wytscaete Road. Out of a raiding party estimated about 90. Six of the enemy managed to make an entrance, the remainder of them being driven back by Lewis Gun fire and bombs. The men of the 2nd Otago Battalion holding the line displayed the greatest gallantry, endurance and devotion to duty in sticking in their posts under the severest bombardment and driving the enemy back. Corporal W.E. Gordon a Lewis Machine Gunner was the first to observe the enemy coming across "No Man's Land". He immediately gave the alarm and turned his gun on the enemy. Throughout the whole bombardment he displayed the greatest coolness, self composure and bravery, he set a splendid example to his men, showing great initiative and devotion to duty. London Gazette 11 May 1917, p4602, Rec No 721. AWMM
• Victory Medal AWMM
• British War Medal (1914-1920) AWMM

Enlistment

WW1 Unknown AWMM Fitter/Military AWMM

Embarkation details

WW1 08 Jan 1916-07 Feb 1916 AWMM
HMNZT 38 AWMM Vessel was RMS Tahiti AWMM Rifleman AWMM 3rd Reinforcements, 1st Battalion, E Company AWMM New Zealand Rifle Brigade AWMM

Medical notes

Killed in Action, Cause of Death AWMM

Last rank

WW1 Sergeant AWMM
Otago Infantry Regiment, 2nd Battalion AWMM

Son of Douglas and Susannah Gordon, of 28, Abbotts Rd, Mount Eden, Auckland.

His brother, Private Robert Hamilton Gordon (12/2303), was also killed in World War 1; they are remembered on the Gordon family grave at Waikaraka Cemetery, Auckland, Grave reference: Area 1, Block H, Plot 58.

Originally buried in the field and reinterred at Tyne Cot.

Next of Kin: Mr D. Gordon, Mt Eden, Auckland (Roll of Honour, Auckland Province 1914-1918 (Volume 1)) AWMM

Death

12 Oct 1917 AWMM
Age  31 AWMM

Cause of death

Killed in Action AWMM

Memorial name

• Tyne Cot Memorial, Tyne Cot Cemetery, Zonnebeke, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium AWMM
• Family grave memorial, Waikaraka Cemetery, 1 Alfred Street, Onehunga, Auckland, New Zealand AWMM
• Railways Roll of Honour board. Wellington Railway Station, Pipitea, Wellington 6011. AWMM
• Otahuhu Railway Workshops War Memorial, corner of Piki Thompson Way, Otahuhu Auckland 1062 AWMM
• Auckland War Memorial Museum, World War 1 Hall of Memories AWMM

Related objects

Related Serviceperson

External links

• Military personnel file
  https://collections.archives.govt.nz/web/arena/search/#/entity/aims-archive/R16787398
  Further Reference
• Passchendaele Casualty form.
  http://web.archive.org/web/20180129035740/http://www.archives.govt.nz/exhibitions/passchendaele/view?pid=archives:12802
  Further Reference
• Passchendaele Casualty form.
  http://web.archive.org/web/20180129035740/http://www.archives.govt.nz/exhibitions/passchendaele/view?pid=archives:12802
  Further Reference
• A Street Near You record
  https://astreetnearyou.org/person/847575/-
  Further Reference
• Commonwealth War Graves Commission Casualty record
  https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/847575
  Further Reference
• New Zealand War Graves Trust
  https://www.nzwargraves.org.nz/
  Further Reference

References

• McDonald, W. (2013). Honours and Awards to the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in the Great War, 1914-1918. (3rd ed.). Hamilton, N.Z.: Richard Stowers.
  papers (papers from a Service Record eg Record of Promotions, Reductions, Transfers etc)
• New Zealand Army Expeditionary Force. (1917). Nominal Rolls of New Zealand Expeditionary Force Volume II. Wellington, N.Z.: Govt. Printer.
  16: 3
• Harper, G. (2000). Massacre at Passchendaele : the New Zealand story. Auckland, N.Z.: HarperCollins.
• Harper, G. (2000). Massacre at Passchendaele : the New Zealand story. Auckland, N.Z.: HarperCollins.
• The Fields of Remembrance Trust: Brothers Field, Auckland Museum (Armistice, 2018)
• Roll of Honour, Auckland Province (digital copy), 1914 - 1919. Auckland War Memorial Museum Library. MS-2016-2.
• Byrne, A. E. Official History of the Otago Regiment, NZEF in the Great War, 1914–1918. Dunedin: J. Wilkie, 1921.
• Austin, W. (1924). The official history of the New Zealand Rifle Brigade (The Earl of Liverpool's Own). Wellington, N.Z.: L T Watkins.