Benham, Gordon Earle
No.1105 – Private Gordon Earle Benham – 11th Battalion AIF
Gordon Earle Benham was born in Fulham England on the 25th June 1893 to Robert & Annie Benham. Gordon went to school in Thornton Heath and after he left school he went into the Merchant Service in 1908 at Glasgow.
Gordon travelled to Australia when he was 17 embarking in Fremantle in 1911. He took up residence in Fremantle and continued to work as a sailor and also learnt the trade of Pearl Fishing. He was living in Cliff Street Fremantle prior to enlistment. Gordon enlisted into the AIF on the 16th September 1914. He was medically examined and found to be 5 feet 4 & ¼ inches in height; weight of 126 lbs; chest measurement of 34-37 inches; fair complexion; green eyes and light brown hair. His religious denomination was Church of England.
After being accepted as fit Gordon was posted to the 1st Reinforcements to the 11th Battalion AIF. This group initially went to Victoria for further training and then embarked from Melbourne on the 22nd December 1914 aboard the H.M.A.T. A32 “Themistocles”. After their arrival in Egypt, the 1st reinforcements joined up with the 11th Battalion. On the 2nd March 1915 Gordon went with the 11th Battalion to Lemnos Island where they would train for an amphibious landing on the Turkish coast.
On April 25th Gordon landed with 11th Battalion at North Beach on the Turkish coast. He survived the landing and fought through all of May unscathed. On the 12th June he was taken to hospital but returned to the 11th Battalion two days later. On the 28th June 1915 Gordon was wounded in the right thigh by a Turkish bomb during a demonstration by the 11th Battalion against the Turks opposite. He was evacuated to the hospital ship “Sicilia” and taken back to Egypt. On arrival in Alexandria, Gordon was admitted to No.19 General Hospital though the wounds proved too severe to recover from and Gordon died on the 8th July 1915. Gordon Benham was buried in Alexandria in Chatby Military Cemetery Plot L.29