Frederick Stanley Gordon, (29 October 1897 – 27 July 1985) was a New Zealand

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually co ...

of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. While serving in Britain's

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

, he scored nine aerial victories as a fighter pilot.

Early life

Frederick Stanley Gordon was born in New Zealand on 29 October 1897.

First World War

Gordon served in the

. By mid-1918, he was assigned to No. 74 Squadron as a fighter pilot. He began a nine victory winning streak on 2 August 1918 that was capped with his second ballon busting mission on 30 October. Gordon was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross on 3 June 1919, and the Belgian

Croix de guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...

on 15 July.

List of aerial victories

Post-war

Gordon died on 27 June 1985.Shores et al, p. 172.

Endnotes

References

* 1897 births 1985 deaths New Zealand World War I flying aces New Zealand military personnel of World War I Recipients of the Croix de guerre (Belgium) Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Royal Air Force personnel of World War I Royal New Zealand Air Force personnel {{newZealand-mil-bio-stub