Wallet 1 of 5 - Correspondence and papers relating to John Rutherford Gordon, 1918-1970

Places	Europe: United Kingdom, England, Gloucestershire Europe: United Kingdom, England, Gloucestershire, Leighterton North & Central America: Canada, Ontario, Ottawa Oceania: Australia, Queensland, Brisbane Oceania: Australia, Queensland, Kingaroy Oceania: Australia, South Australia, Encounter Bay Oceania: Australia, South Australia, Port Adelaide Oceania: Australia, South Australia, Victor Harbor Oceans: Pacific Ocean, South Pacific Ocean
Accession Number	AWM2020.22.35
Collection number	PR82/067
Collection type	Digitised Collection
Record type	Wallet
Item count	1
Object type	Papers
Physical description	87 Image/s captured
Maker	Gordon, John Rutherford
Place made	Australia, Canada
Date made	1918-1970
Conflict	First World War, 1914-1918
Copying Provisions	Digital format and content protected by copyright.
Source credit to	This item has been digitised with funding provided by Commonwealth Government.

Places

Accession Number

AWM2020.22.35

Collection number

PR82/067

Collection type

Digitised Collection

Record type

Wallet

Item count

Object type

Papers

Physical description

87 Image/s captured

Maker

Gordon, John Rutherford

Place made

Australia, Canada

Date made

1918-1970

Conflict

First World War, 1914-1918

Copying Provisions

Digital format and content protected by copyright.

Source credit to

This item has been digitised with funding provided by Commonwealth Government.

Collection relating to the First World War, Interwar and Second World War service and post-war life of 250854 Wing Commander John Rutherford Gordon MC, No. 3 Initial Training School, Royal Australian Air Force, (formerly Second Lieutenant, Australian Flying Corps), 1914-1975.

Wallet 1 of 5 - Contains material from the First World War and Second World War service of John Rutherford Gordon in addition to letters and papers from the post-war period. Items from the First World War include a Royal Air Force transfer card that records training undertaken by Gordon, and a notebook of lecture notes and diagrams relating to his training with the Australian Flying Corps. The latter references subjects ranging from flight instruments and various components of aeroplanes including Le Rhône and Beardmore engines to fundamental flight training subjects such as navigation and meteorology.

Material from the Second World War includes an invitation for Gordon to attend dinner at the Château Laurier Hotel in Ottawa on 15 September 1941 arranged by the Air Council of Canada in honour of Air Marshal A.G.R. [Alfred Guy Roland] Garrod, a permit to land on Pitcairn Island issued to Gordon on 28 March 1942, and correspondence between Gordon and the Governor of Queensland, Sir Leslie Orme Wilson, relating to the latter's official visit to No. 3 Initial Training School at Kingaroy on 3 May 1943.

Material from the post-war period includes a letter from Commander John Lancaster to Gordon dated 24 April 1968, enclosed with a typescript of an Anzac address given by Lancaster at Victor Harbour on 21 April 1968 and a flyer featuring the Sidney Nolan painting "Soldier" used to promote a film produced by Qantas titled "Toehold In History". Other items from this period comprise correspondence between Gordon and John Albert Salcumbe from April 1970 concerning a newspaper article by Kenneth Joachim titled "The Corner That Is Anzac" published by "The Advocate" on 23 April 1969. The article explores the origins of Anzac Day services held at Leighterton since 1934 in honour of 24 members of the Australian Flying Corps who lived and trained at Leighterton Airfield and were buried at the local cemetery after dying in air crashes nearby, and the role of Salcumbe in the continued remembrance of these Australians. A newspaper clipping of the article is enclosed with the correspondence and has been reproduced with the permission of News Corp Australia.

The Qantas flyer titled "Toehold In History" featuring the Sidney Nolan painting "Soldier" has been reproduced with the permission of Qantas and the Art Gallery of South Australia - Sidney Nolan, Australia, 1917 - 1992, Soldier, 1964, London, oil on board, 122.0 x 122.0 cm; Gift of Sidney and Cynthia Nolan 1974, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, © Art Gallery of South Australia.