Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

GORDON John Vivian MD FRCP FRACP

1919 – 2008

John Vivian Gordon was born on 14th June 1919, in Adelaide, SA. He was the only child of Kenneth Stanley Gordon, a clerk, and Catherine Dorothea, nee Warnecke. Gordon was educated at St Peter’s College and studied medicine at the University of Adelaide, graduating MB BS in 1942. He married Margaret Mable Watson on 6th November 1942.  She was the daughter of Mr and Mrs Franklin Stuart Watson, of North Unley.

Gordon enlisted in the 2/AIF on 11th January 1943, shortly after completing his medical degree.  He had joined the AAMC three weeks earlier, at the rank of captain, and was serving in 101 AGH at the time of his enlistment. Gordon named his wife Margaret, of Young Street, North Unley, as his next of kin.  He remained in 101AGH until transferred to 123 ASH, in SA, on the 15th March 1943.  He completed the Hygiene and Sanitation course in NSW and returned to his unit in May 1943. This was followed by the Chemical Warfare course, with 16 FdAmb, in August the same year. He returned to 123 ASH and had his son born on 28 September 1943. He attended LHQ AAMC War course in November 1943. On completion of the course, he was attached to 121 AGH and then transferred to 64 ACH on 7th February 1944. Gordon was admitted to 34 ACH for a minor illness and then sent as MO to QLD L of C area on 27th October 1944. He remained in QLD until June 1945 and again had some admissions to 2/2 AGH with minor illnesses.  Gordon embarked on the Jose Pedro Varella in Cairns, QLD for British North Borneo on 12th June 1945 to serve with 2/6th AGH. He returned to Australia, on compassionate leave, on 21st November 1945 and was re-allocated for duty as a MO in the TAS L of C area.  His appointment was terminated on the 11th February 1946, and he was placed on the Reserve of Officers.

Following the war, Gordon completed his MD at the University of Adelaide in 1949 and then travelled to England to obtain his MRCP in 1950.  He was a registrar in the Department of Neurology at Guy’s Hospital, London, for two years until 1952, when he took a position as house physician in the National Hospital for Nervous Diseases in London, until 1953. He was made FRACP in 1958. He returned to Adelaide and had a private practice on North Terrace, Adelaide. He also was appointed as a senior neurologist at the RAH and the RGH, from 1954 until his retirement in 1977, and a senior neurologist at the ACH and a clinical teacher at the University of Adelaide. He was promoted to FRCP in 1974. After his retirement, it appears that he may have lived overseas for a while, as he gave a London bank address in the 1980 medical Directory of Australia. Gordon’s wife, Margaret, died in 1988, they had two sons, John, a lawyer, and Jeremy, an artist. He later re-married to Margaret Matthews. Gordon was an accomplished pianist with a passion for Bach.  He became fascinated by ancient Egypt and studied hieroglyphics and ancient texts in his later years. He was troubled with a progressive gait disorder, the cause of which was never found. He eventually developed prostate cancer and John Vivian Gordon died, in Adelaide, on 29th November 2008; survived by his second wife and two sons.

Source

Blood, Sweat and Fears III: Medical Practitioners South Australia, who Served in World War 2. 

Swain, Jelly, Verco, Summers. Open Books Howden, Adelaide 2019. 

Uploaded by Annette Summers AO RFD