4th Light Horse Regiment
Memorial Association
335 L/Cpl Gordon Story
Gordon Story was the youngest of the seven children of William and Eliza Story. He was born on 17 Feb 1885 at the hotel kept by his grandfather, Joseph Story, the Royal Artillery Hotel at the corner of Elizabeth and Queensberry Streets in North Melbourne. Previously William had been the licensee of the now demolished Stork Hotel at the corner of Elizabeth and Victoria Streets.
Gordon was given the full name General Gordon Butler Story. He was named “General Gordon” after General Charles Gordon, a military hero who lost his life at a famous battle at Khartoum at that time. We always knew him as “Gordon” or “Uncle Gordon” but it seems “Gen” was his nickname as a child and young man. The name “Butler” was in recognition of his godfather Jim Butler whose name he used as a pen-
Gordon’s father retired about 1889 after which the family lived at “The Oaks” in Dromana, where Gordon received most of his education at the local primary school. His father died at Dromana in 1898, and about that time the family moved to Flemington where they lived until his mother’s death in 1910. By this time Gordon was working as a primary school teacher, first in Melbourne and then at various other schools.
At the time of the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, Gordon was teaching at Mansfield and serving with the local Mounted Rifles. War was declared on 4 Aug. On the 20th Gordon enlisted in the 4th Light Horse Regiment. His enlistment Medical Form has him as 29 years & five months, 5 ft 9 3/4 ins tall, weighing 12 stone and with blue eyes and brown hair.
In October he was on the Wiltshire, destined for Egypt. Gordon was a great one for putting pen to paper. His family has letters to his older brother Chas, his diaries and a selection of short stories. His writings about the trip and his time in Egypt suggest an observant and enquiring mind. But, so typically of service personnel, he never seems to write about the horrors of the front line and the fighting.
(At the time Charles B Story was a Captain in the 37th Battalion. Over time he was promoted to Lt Col. We never do learn why Gordon did not seem to aspire to be an officer. He was made up to Sergeant temporarily but his provisional elevation only lasted until the Corporal who had been selected for the job returned to the unit. Military records show him variously as Trooper, Lance Corporal and back to either Trooper or Private on discharge.)
After training in Egypt he fought at Gallipoli before becoming ill. Gordon was then part of the Regiment that was then transferred to the Western Front. Scattered references from the remaining official paper-
Before the war Gordon had been an oarsman. The Melbourne Leader of 10 Aug 1918 reported, “Trooper Gordon Storey, of the Civil Service Rowing Club, gave his club mates a surprise last Sunday morning, when he strolled into the club room unannounced. He only returned from the front on Friday, so that he wasted no time in renewing acquaintance with his old friends at the river.”
Safely back in Australia Gordon returned to primary school teaching in rural Victoria (in various locations but mainly in Coleraine) until 1937. He had completed his Diploma of Education under the Soldiers’ Reconstruction Training Scheme in 1923.
On 17 Dec 1920 he married Jessie May Eyre. Their first child was a stillborn boy, born in about 1921. Their two daughters, Elaine and Edith, were born in 1927 and 1932.
The family returned to Melbourne for two years in 1937 and 1938 while Gordon taught at Hampton State School. After 1938 the family went to Beechworth where Gordon was Principal of the Higher Elementary School and where Edith died at the age of six. Gordon obtained a compassionate transfer to Melbourne in consideration of Jessie’s failing health following the tragedy of Edith’s death. He was First Assistant at Hampton State School and then at the State Schools at Nott Street Port Melbourne and finally Arkaringa Crescent Black Rock until his retirement in about 1955.
Jessie died at Hampton on 10 July 1944. Gordon and Elaine lived on at their home, 55 Willis Street, Hampton, until Gordon died in 1962.
Proudly presented Gordon Story’s daughter Elaine and Dr Neil Powers, his great-
Neil and Elaine have provided copies of Gordon’s letters home, diary pages and some of his short stories. They make interesting reading.
Click this link to safely download these papers.
