The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (528) Corporal Gordon Powell Goode, 3rd Light Horse Regiment, AIF, First World War.

The Last Post Ceremony is presented in the Commemorative area of the Australian War Memorial each day. The ceremony commemorates more than 102,000 Australians who have given their lives in war and other operations and whose names are recorded on the Roll of Honour. At each ceremony the story behind one of the names on the Roll of Honour is told. Hosted by Craig Berrelle, the story for this day was on (528) Corporal Gordon Powell Goode, 3rd Light Horse Regiment, AIF, First World War.

528 Corporal Gordon Powell Goode, 3rd Light Horse Regiment, AIF
DOD 16 October 1915
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 31 December 2016

Today we remember and pay tribute to Corporal Gordon Powell Goode.

Gordon Goode was born on 22 January 1886 to William and Marion Goode of Port Pirie, South Australia. William Goode had come to South Australia in 1858 as a young man and opened a business there. He soon became one of the pillars of the community. He was integral in the process of securing trade from Broken Hill to the port at Pirie instead of Adelaide, and served the community in myriad ways, as mayor and councillor, and as a horse judge in the local show.

Gordon Goode attended Mr Byrne’s private school in the congregational schoolroom at Port Pirie. He completed his education in Adelaide at Prince Alfred College, where he proved an excellent athlete and won many trophies. From here he went to Edinburgh to study medicine, but his studies were cut short when his father died in 1910, and he returned to South Australia and began work as a station hand.

Goode enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in October 1914, following his younger brother Eric, who had enlisted in August. Unlike Eric, who went into the infantry, Gordon was posted to the 3rd Light Horse Regiment. He underwent a brief period of training in Australia before being sent to Egypt.

Private Eric Goode landed on Gallipoli with the 10th Battalion on 25 April 1915. Two days later he was killed in action.

Gordon Goode arrived on Gallipoli less than two weeks after his brother was killed. His regiment played a largely defensive role on the peninsula, and was in reserve during the heavy fighting of the August Offensive. Goode proved an able soldier was promoted to corporal.

In mid-September 1915 Corporal Goode was admitted to hospital with enteric fever. Although he returned to his regiment a few days later, he had not fully recovered and was soon evacuated to Egypt. There he became the second of William’s and Marion’s sons to die during the war. He was buried in nearby Chatby Military Cemetery, aged 30. His headstone also commemorates his brother Eric, whose body was never recovered, and who has no known grave. It reads, “They did their duty.”

Gordon Goode’s name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, among more than 60,000 Australians who died during the First World War.

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Corporal Gordon Powell Goode, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Dr Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section