Jul 7, 1891
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Born at
Liverpool England
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May 8, 1915
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Attested into
the 59th Battalion at Belleville Ontario
Ø Number 454640
Ø Next of kin given as Trevor Ball (uncle) of Vancouver British Columbia
o This was subsequently changed to read Micheal Doherty of 113 Iberville
St., Montreal Quebec
Ø Previous occupation given as Boiler Maker
Ø No previous military experience given
Ø Religion given as Church of England
On
enlistment, proceeded to Camp Borden Ontario
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Nov 18, 1915
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Appointed to
provisional rank of Lance Cpl
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Apr 1, 1916
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Embarked the SS
Olympic at Halifax Nova Scotia
![](http://21stbattalion.ca/ships/Olympic-10.jpg)
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Apr 11, 1916
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Disembarked at
Liverpool England and proceeded to the Shorncliffe Camp
Provisional
rank of Lance Cpl confirmed
|
Jul 6, 1916
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TOS (Taken On
Strength) the 39th Reserve Battalion at West Sandling Camp
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Aug 10, 1916
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SOS (Struck Off
Strength) on transfer to the 21st Battalion
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Aug 12, 1916
|
Arrived at CBD
(Canadian Base Depot) at Havre France and TOS the 21st Battalion
Reverts to
rank of Pte
|
Aug 29, 1916
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Arrived at 2nd
Entrenching Battalion
|
Sep 17, 1916
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Joined the 21st
Battalion in the field
The Battalion had just come out of
the line after suffering heavy losses fighting at the Somme
|
Jan 17, 1917
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Appointed to
rank of Acting Cpl with pay
|
Jan 26, 1917
|
Granted 10 days
leave
Granted
permission to marry
Next of kin
changed to read Mrs. Florence May Gordon (wife)
|
Feb 9, 1917
|
At duty from
leave
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Apr 14, 1917
|
Promoted to rank
of Sgt to replace Sgt HK Roblin who was wounded in the attack at Vimy Ridge
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May 19, 1917
|
Presented his
Military Medal by Gen Sir Julian Byng
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Jul 9, 1917
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Award of the
Military Medal announced in London Gazette #30172
![](http://21stbattalion.ca/photosdg/gordon_w-MM.jpg)
![](http://21stbattalion.ca/photosdg/gordon_w-MM-citation-1.jpg)
This was for his actions during the attack at Vimy Ridge
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Aug 15, 1917
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Killed In Action
![](http://21stbattalion.ca/gravesdg/gordon_w-vimy.jpg)
Because his body was
never identified, he is commemorated on the Vimy Ridge Memorial in France
|
Jun 23, 1921
|
Beginning on
this date, and on subsequent dates, the following were sent to his widow, Mrs. F Sheppard
(nee Gordon) at 95 Millbank St., Northam, Southampton England
Ø Military Medal
Ø British War Medal
Ø Victory Medal
Ø Plaque
Ø Scroll
Ø Memorial Cross
|
|
2010
![](http://21stbattalion.ca/vigil2010/ypres-vigil2010.jpg)
For the 7
nights leading up to November 11, 2010, the names of all Canadian soldiers were projected
onto the Belgian War Memorial in Ypres. At
the same time, the same names were being broadcast via the internet to schools across
Belgium and Canada. The image above shows
the opening ceremonies at the Belgian War Memorial on November 4, 2010.
Below on the
left is the name of William Gordon being projected on that wall. Below right shows the name being broadcast to the
schools. Each name appeared for 25 seconds
and each night 9,700 names were shown.
![](http://21stbattalion.ca/vigil2010/gordon_w-vigil2010-3.jpg)
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