Gordon was 27 years old, and acting as a lance corporal in the 41st Battalion, Australian Imperial Force when, during the Battle of Amiens, the following deeds leading to him being awarded the Military Medal occurred.
On the 8/8/18 during the attack east of Hamel Pte Gordon single-handedly attacked a machine gun crew which was holding up his section. He killed the crew and captured the gun. Later on in the day he stalked and killed an enemy sniper.
Throughout the operation he displayed much bravery and devotion to duty.
Brigadier General J.H. Cannan, 11th Brigade AIF
This action occurred on the "Black Day" of the German Army, in which the Australian Corps destroyed their opposition. As a result of this, on 9 August 1918 the Canadian Corps advance lead to a general retreat by the German troops. The Australian 3rd Division continued to advance toward the bend in the River Somme. During this period the following action, for which Gordon was awarded the Victoria Cross, took place:
During the operations of the 26/27th August 1918 East of Bray this N.C.O showed most conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty in the face of the enemy.
He led his Section through heavy enemy shelling to the objective which he consolidated. Then single handed he attacked an enemy machine gun which was enfilading the Company on his right, killing the man on the gun and captured the post which contained one Officer (a Captain) and 10 men. After handing these over at Company Headquarters he returned alone to the old system of trenches, in which were many machine guns, entered a C.T. and proceeded to mop it up, returning with 15 prisoners in one squad and 14 in an other, together with two machine guns.
Again he returned to the system, this time with a T.M. gun and crew, and proceeded to mop up a further portion of the trench, bringing in 22 prisoners including one Officer and 3 Machine guns. This last capture enabled the British troops on our left to advance, which they had not been able to do owing to Machine Gun fire from these posts.
His total captures were thus 2 Officers and 61 other ranks, together with 6 machine guns, and with the exception of the Trench Mortar assistance it was absolutely an individual effort and done entirely on his own initiative.
Brigadier General J.H. Cannan, 11th Brigade AIF