Private William Gordon
This North Irish Horseman appears to have been the William Gordon born on 25 December 1882 at Corrinshigo, Newry, County Down, the second of nine children of coachman George Gordon and his wife Elizabeth (née Wilkinson). At the time of the 1911 Census he was living as a boarder at Ringcreevy, Comber, County Down, at the home of huntsman William Boyd Beck, where he worked as a groom.
Gordon enlisted in the North Irish Horse on 31 August or 1 September 1914 (No.1060 – later Corps of Hussars No.71216). On 1 May 1915 he embarked for France with D Squadron, which at the time was serving as divisional cavalry to the 51st Division.
In May 1916 D Squadron came together with A and E Squadrons to form the 1st North Irish Horse Regiment, serving as corps cavalry to VII, XIX, then V Corps until February-March 1918, when the regiment was dismounted and converted to a cyclist unit, serving as corps cyclists to V Corps until the end of the war.
Gordon remained with the regiment throughout the war. Fellow Horseman Thomas Morrow mentioned him in a letter dated 13 June 1917, in which he noted with regret the departure of another man, Bob Craigan:
I'll miss him here, as I have seen him pretty regular lately, he and Billy Duff, and Billy Gordon were great pals as he knew Duff well, being about the Islands [in Strangford Lough] so much with Miss Wilson. they are both in this Squadron with Officers Major & Captain.
On 30 March 1918 he was hospitalised at No.18 General Hospital, Camiers, suffering from bronchitis. He was released two weeks later.
On 24 April 1919 he was demobilised and transferred to Class Z, Army Reserve.
At some point after the war he lived at Wood Lodge, Annsborough, County Down.
At least three of Gordon's brothers, James, Thomas and Leonard, served in the war, in the 13th Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles.
This page last updated 7 September 2025.