- John Rutherford Gordon
John Rutherford Gordon MC (1895-1978) was an Australian fighter pilot and ace of
World War I . As a sergeant No 1 section, A Coy, 10 Battalion he took part in the ANZAC landings atGallipoli ,Turkey , 25 April 1915. He received his commission while serving atGallipoli . In August he was invalided toAustralia and spent a year recuperating and serving as an Intelligence Officer. He transferred to theAustralian Flying Corps and undertook flying training atPoint Cook, Victoria .Returning to
England in 1917 he was medically restricted from completing his flying training so on his own initiative transferred to theRoyal Flying Corps to serve as a gunner on Bristol Fighters at No 62 Squadron. Teamed withBill Staton he downed 7 enemy aircraft with the aircraft’s single rear gun, and Staton, a further 26, with the forward firing weapon. He was awarded theMilitary Cross for effective ground attack actions during the German March/April 1918 offensives.In mid 1918 he returned to England to finally complete his flying training and then served as a pilot on the SE5a. Later, while undertaking a
Sopwith Snipe conversion, the war ended and he returned to Australia.At the outbreak of the
Second World War he joined theRAAF as Recruiting Officer inAdelaide and subsequently took the first intake of theEmpire Air Training Scheme toCanada . From 1942 he served as the Commanding Officer of the No 3 Initial Training School atKingaroy ,Queensland . He retired from the RAAF in 1945 with the rank of Wing Commander.
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