John Rutherford Gordon

John Rutherford Gordon MC
Born	18 June 1895
Died	11 December 1978 (aged 83)
Allegiance	Australia
Service/branch	Australian Flying Corps Royal Air Force
Rank	Wing Commander
Battles/wars	World War I
Awards	Military Cross
Relations	Sir David John Gordon (father) Douglas Peel Gordon (brother)

John Rutherford Gordon MC (18 June 1895 – 11 December 1978) was an Australian fighter pilot and ace of World War I.

Career

As a sergeant No 1 section, A Coy, 10 Battalion he took part in the ANZAC landings at Gallipoli, Turkey, 25 April 1915. He received his commission while serving at Gallipoli. In August, he was invalided to Australia and spent a year recuperating and serving as an Intelligence Officer. He transferred to the Australian Flying Corps and undertook flying training at Point Cook, Victoria.

Returning to England in 1917, he was medically restricted from completing his flying training so on his own initiative transferred to the Royal Flying Corps to serve as a gunner on Bristol Fighters at No 62 Squadron. Teamed with Bill Staton, he downed 15 enemy aircraft with the aircraft's single rear gun. He was awarded the Military 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 the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) as Recruiting Officer in Adelaide and subsequently took the first intake of the Empire Air Training Scheme to Canada. From 1942, he served as the Commanding Officer of the No 3 Initial Training School at Kingaroy, Queensland. He retired from the RAAF in 1945 with the rank of wing commander.

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  John Gordon at the controls of a Graham White Boxkite, Point Cook, Victoria, 1916.

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  John Gordon and Bill Staton (standing) with their Bristol Fighter, No 62 Squadron RFC, 1918, Cachy, France.

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  John Gordon at the controls of his SE5a, France, 1918.

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