Gordon Nornable MC (9 January 1915 – 4 November 2002) won the Military Cross and

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 ...

in 1944 fighting with the

French Maquis French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

in eastern France.

Biography

Nornable was born at

Woodseats Woodseats is a district of Sheffield, South Yorkshire in the Graves Park ward. Historically, Norton Woodseats () was a village that straddled Derbyshire Lane running from Four Lane Ends to Bolehill (now part of Graves Park), originally in Der ...

, Sheffield, the son of Charles Ernest Nornable. He was educated locally at King Edward VII School where he excelled at sport (his father had played

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

for Derbyshire). In April 1940, he joined the London Scottish as a

regimental police Regimental police or regimental provost (RP) are soldiers responsible for regimental discipline enforcement and unit custody in the British Army, other Commonwealth armies and some armed forces structured in the British tradition. They belong to ...

officer. In July 1942, he was drafted to the 6th Battalion, Gordon Highlanders, and volunteered to undertake commando missions for the Special Service in France. He was commissioned on the

General List The General Service Corps (GSC) is a corps of the British Army. Role The role of the corps is to provide specialists, who are usually on the Special List or General List. These lists were used in both World Wars for specialists and those not allo ...

in March 1944, having previously been a

sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...

. In June 1945, as a lieutenant, he transferred back to the Gordons. He was awarded the Military Cross in June 1945. Apart from his military service, he was a local government officer with Sheffield Public Works Department from 1934 until he retired in 1975. In retirement, Nornable lived at Norton, Sheffield, where he died aged 87.

References

External links

An account by Nornable of his time with the Maquis
''King Edward VII School Magazine'', vol. XI. July, 1946 No. 12, page 185 {{DEFAULTSORT:Nornable, Gordon People educated at King Edward VII School, Sheffield 1915 births 2002 deaths British Army Commandos soldiers London Scottish soldiers Gordon Highlanders officers Recipients of the Military Cross British Army personnel of World War II Gordon Highlanders soldiers British Army General List officers British Special Operations Executive personnel Military personnel from Sheffield Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France)