Lance Corporal Sidney Gordon VC

Date of birth: 16 August 1891
Place of birth: Launceston, TAS
Date of death: 19 October 1963
Place of death: Torquay, QLD
Unit: 41st Battalion, 11th Brigade, 3rd Division
Date of Action: 27 August 1918
Place of Action: Fargny Wood, near Bray, France

Sidney "Bernie" Gordon was born at Launceston on 16 August 1891. He attended school at Deloraine and Devonport. Upon leaving school, Gordon gained employment as a cooper’s machinist in Beaconsfield. Gordon later moved to Townsville, where he enlisted with the AIF on 27 September 1915.

He soon showed that he had considerable courage and initiative, although he was not always a model soldier when out of the line. He was first wounded in France in October 1917, and in August 1918 his conduct beyond Le Hamel earned him the Military Medal. Less than three weeks later, 26–27 August 1918, came the action for which he received the Victoria Cross.

During an attack to advance the Australian line towards Fargny Wood, Gordon single-handedly attacked a German machine-gun post, then cleaned up a trench, capturing 29 prisoners and two more machine-guns. In further actions he cleared other trenches, in all capturing 63 of the enemy and six machine-guns.

Gordon returned to Australia in January 1919. After working a short period as a grocer in Queensland, Gorgon began dairy farming. In 1938, Gordon married Caroline Edith Manley. They had two sons and a daughter. Gordon was previously married to Evelyn Catherine Lonergan with whom he had six children with.