Individual Details
Albert Joseph (Joe) GORDON
(22 Aug 1893 - 1972)
Joe served in France during World War I. From his attestation and other military papers we know that he was 5ft 9ins tall with hazel eyes and a dark complexion. He signed up for military service on 13 May 1917 and, following a period of training in Wanganui, New Zealand, left with his unit for Europe on 13 August, disembarking in Glasgow, Scotland on 2 October. The Auckland Regiment, of which he was a member, arrived in Etaples, France on 8 November 1917. Joe served a total of one year and 289 days overseas and returned to New Zealand in 1919. He was awarded the Overseas Service Medal and the Victory Medal.
There is a story that at point point during his service in Europe, unable to cope with what he experienced, Joe fled to Ireland where he was given refuge by his aunt Sr. Jerome Gordon in St. Vincent's Hospital, Dublin, where she worked. She kept him in the isolation ward which the authorities, when they came looking for him, were prohibited from entering and so Joe avoided arrest.
Another story, which is likely to be linked to to the above, is that when he was on leave during the war he and other soldiers with Irish connections went to Dublin where they were met by relatives and friends who plied them with whiskey and generally showed them great hospitality. Joe's army records show that he was docked some pay for being AWOL for a few days around this time, which may have been why the authories were looking for him. It is certainly true that Joe's war experiences scarred him motionally. He had been a victim of gas attacks and other horrors and rarely spoke to his family of his war service. However, he had good memories of his brief time in Dublin and always wanted to go back. He returned for his second visit about 50 years later, in the late 1960s.
Joe and his wife, Kathleen, lived in Auckland for the first few years of their marriage before moving to Wellington in the early 1930s. This was during the Great Depression and Joe, who was a carpenter, found himself out of work. Kathleen's widowed father lived in Masterton, about 100km from Wellington, and when work became available at the Masterton Timber Mill in 1935 the family moved in with Katheen's father. They lived there until the end of 1939 when they moved back to Auckland.
There is a story that at point point during his service in Europe, unable to cope with what he experienced, Joe fled to Ireland where he was given refuge by his aunt Sr. Jerome Gordon in St. Vincent's Hospital, Dublin, where she worked. She kept him in the isolation ward which the authorities, when they came looking for him, were prohibited from entering and so Joe avoided arrest.
Another story, which is likely to be linked to to the above, is that when he was on leave during the war he and other soldiers with Irish connections went to Dublin where they were met by relatives and friends who plied them with whiskey and generally showed them great hospitality. Joe's army records show that he was docked some pay for being AWOL for a few days around this time, which may have been why the authories were looking for him. It is certainly true that Joe's war experiences scarred him motionally. He had been a victim of gas attacks and other horrors and rarely spoke to his family of his war service. However, he had good memories of his brief time in Dublin and always wanted to go back. He returned for his second visit about 50 years later, in the late 1960s.
Joe and his wife, Kathleen, lived in Auckland for the first few years of their marriage before moving to Wellington in the early 1930s. This was during the Great Depression and Joe, who was a carpenter, found himself out of work. Kathleen's widowed father lived in Masterton, about 100km from Wellington, and when work became available at the Masterton Timber Mill in 1935 the family moved in with Katheen's father. They lived there until the end of 1939 when they moved back to Auckland.
Events
| Birth | 22 Aug 1893 | West Melbourne, Australia | |||
| Death | 1972 | probably Auckland, New Zealand |
Families
| Spouse | Catherine (Kathleen) Josephine O'TOOLE ( - ) |
| Child | Patricia (Patsy) GORDON (1923 - 2007) |
| Child | Donald (Don) Francis GORDON (1926 - 2012) |
| Child | John Desmond Joseph GORDON (1929 - 2011) |
| Child | Peter GORDON (1932 - 1993) |
| Father | Michael John GORDON (1861 - 1938) |
| Mother | Sarah Bridget MURPHY (1866 - 1914) |
| Sibling | Alfred James GORDON (1891 - 1918) |
| Sibling | Monica (Mona) Mary GORDON (1895 - 1984) |
| Sibling | Francis (Frank) GORDON (1900 - 1976) |
| Sibling | Sheila GORDON (1908 - 2002) |