Air Commodore Robert Gordon, (22 January 1882 – 25 September 1954) was an early British military aviator. As a

Royal Marines The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...

officer he held various posts in the

Royal Naval Air Service The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps t ...

during 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 ...

. From 1918 onwards, he was a senior officer in the

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 notably commanded the RAF's Z Force in

British Somaliland British Somaliland, officially the Somaliland Protectorate ( so, Dhulka Maxmiyada Soomaalida ee Biritishka), was a British Empire, British protectorate in present-day Somaliland. During its existence, the territory was bordered by Italian Soma ...

in 1920 as part of the Somaliland campaign.

Early life and career

First flying and administrative officers of the Royal Flying Corps RAE-O790

Gordon was born 22 January 1882 in

Rangoon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

. He was educated at

Fettes College Fettes College () is a co-educational independent boarding and day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, with over two-thirds of its pupils in residence on campus. The school was originally a boarding school for boys only and became co-ed in 1983. In ...

"Air Commodore R. Gordon." Times ondon, England29 Sept. 1954: 10. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 17 Mar. 2012. before joining the

Royal Marines Light Infantry The history of the Royal Marines began on 28 October 1664 with the formation of the Duke of York and Albany's Maritime Regiment of Foot soon becoming known as the Admiral's Regiment. During the War of the Spanish Succession the most historic achi ...

as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

on 1 January 1900. In 1912, Gordon was among the first group of aviators to be taught at Eastchurch. He later became a flying officer in the Royal Flying Corps' Naval Wing when it was formed. At the start of the first world war, Gordon commanded the naval air station at

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

. In 1915, he moved to East Africa for operations to destroy the German cruiser ''

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was named ...

''. For this work he was awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typ ...

. Following promotion to wing commander, Gordon served in

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...

and Italy and then moved to the Eastern Mediterranean, where he commanded No. 2 Wing of the Royal Naval Air Service in the Aegean. He transferred to the

when it was formed in 1918 and after service in south Russia he was awarded a permanent commission in the RAF. Following promotion to group captain, Gordon was to command the RAF in Egypt and British Somaliland. After his time in the latter protectorate, he was Officer Commanding No. 3 Group before taking up command of RAF Trans-Jordania. After some time as a supernumerary in 1923, Gordon attended the Senior Officers' Course at the

Royal Naval College, Greenwich The Royal Naval College, Greenwich, was a Royal Navy training establishment between 1873 and 1998, providing courses for naval officers. It was the home of the Royal Navy's staff college, which provided advanced training for officers. The equiv ...

. The following year, he was appointed Officer Commanding No. 1 Group and 1925 saw Gordon promoted to air commodore and made Air Officer Commanding No. 3 Group in what was a return to his old command. Gordon retired at his own request only seven months later. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Gordon returned to duty as the Scottish Deputy Area Commandant of the

Observer Corps The Royal Observer Corps (ROC) was a civil defence organisation intended for the visual detection, identification, tracking and reporting of aircraft over Great Britain. It operated in the United Kingdom between 29 October 1925 and 31 December ...

. He died on 25 September 1954.

References

External links

Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Commodore R Gordon
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Robert 1882 births 1954 deaths People from Yangon Graduates of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich Royal Flying Corps officers British military personnel of the Fifth Somaliland Expedition Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Companions of the Order of the Bath People of the Royal Observer Corps Royal Air Force officers Royal Marines officers Royal Naval Air Service aviators Royal Marines personnel of World War I People educated at Fettes College British people in British Burma