George Gordon likeness

George Gordon cap badgePioneer George Gordon

Royal Engineers "C" Special Company
Service No: 155633

George Gordon grave

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Personal details

Family Information

Son of Alexander Gordon and Annie Ogilvie Gordon of 72a Sunnyside Rd, Coatbridge. George's father was a Sergeant in the Coatbridge Burgh Police. He was the eldest of 6 children. Both his parents were born in Tyrie, Aberdeenshire. From the 1901 Census - Address - Dundyvan Rd, Coatbridge - Alexander Gordon aged 30, Annie Gordon aged 30, George Gordon aged 3, Annie O. Gordon aged 1. George's 4 other brothers were Alexander Gordon born 1902, William John Gordon born 1906, Walter James Gordon born 1909 and Albert Edward Gordon born 1911. George's Pension was awarded to his mother Annie on the 12/12/1917 and the 17/12/1918.

Born / Resided

Coatbridge / 72a Sunnyside Rd, Coatbridge.

Died

Died of Wounds on the 01/06/1917

Enlisted

Glasgow 04/02/1916

Employed

Student at Glasgow University.

Age

19 / DOB - 26/09/1897

Buried / Remembered

Philosophe British Cemetery (I. Q. 37), Mazingarbe, France

Cemetery / Memorial Information

The cemetery was started in August 1915. In 1916 it was taken over by the 16th (Irish) Division, who held the Loos Salient at the time, and many of their dead were brought back to the cemetery from the front line. Succeeding divisions used the cemetery until October 1918, and men of the same Division, and often the same battalion, were buried side by side. After the Armistice, this cemetery was one of those used for the concentration of isolated graves from the Loos battlefield. The bodies of 41 men of the 9th Black Watch were brought from positions a little West of Loos, and those of 340 officers and men of other Regiments from different points in the communes of Cambrin, Auchy, Vermelles, Halluch and Loos. There are 1,996 Commonwealth burials of the First World War in the cemetery, 277 of them unidentified.

Additional Information

George arrived in the theatre of war on the 16/04/1916 with the Royal Engineers. George was seriously wounded on the 01/06/1917 and never regained consciousness. His trench belongings included a French dictionary, a pocket knife and scissors (see Service Record 6). George was formerly with the 8th (Reserve) Battalion Cameron Highlanders (22116) "A" Company. He was transferred to the Royal Engineers on the 07/04/1916. He was posted as a Pioneer to "M" Company on the 09/04/1916 and was then transferred to the Special Brigade on the 16/04/1916 then to "C" Special Company, 1st Battalion, Special Brigade on the 21/04/1916. The Special Companies of the Royal Engineers (poison gas) : The Special Companies at the start of the war : No Special Companies existed in 1914. They were a war time invention. The Great War was the first in which chemical weapons were deployed. There was great moral shock and outrage at the first use of Chlorine, released by the Germans against defenceless French troops in the Ypres Salient. The Special Companies of the Royal Engineers were formed to develop the British response. By 1918, gas was used both offensively and defensively, delivered by a range of sophisticated techniques. SEE PHOTOS x 20 FOR THE ROYAL ENGINEERS SPECIAL BRIGADE HEADQUARTERS WAR DIARY JANUARY - JUNE 1917. George's trench belongings included a French dictionary, a pocket knife and scissors (see Service Record 6). His Grave photo kindly donated by Mick McCann at www.britishwargraves.co.uk. George is also remembered on the Coatbridge High School Roll of Honour and at the Family Plot in Old Monkland Cemetery (see photos) and in the Glasgow University Memorial Chapel. See photos for George's Medal Index Card, his CWGC Grave Registration x 2, his Headstone Report, his Army Register of Soldiers Effects, his Service Medal and Award Rolls, his Pension Records x 2, Philosophe British Cemetery, George's Service Records x 13, his previous Regiment the Cameron Highlanders Cap Badge, the Royal Engineers Cap Badge and Newspaper clippings x 2 from the Airdrie and Coatbridge Advertiser 09/06/1917.

Photos
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War Diaries

The battalion War Diary is available on the National Archives website.

Creative Commons License

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