Gordon Colin Cooper was born at Inverell, New South Wales, on 3 August 1893. The 21-year-old farmer enlisted with the Australian Imperial Force on 27 August 1914. Cooper departed Sydney with the 1st Light Horse Regiment aboard HMAT Star of Victoria on 20 October 1914.

Cooper and the 1st Light Horse Regiment landed on Gallipoli in May 1915. Over the next few months this unit played a mostly defensive role until the evacuation in December. After Gallipoli, he started to document his experiences in several diaries.

In July 1916, Cooper was transferred to the 1st Light Horse Brigade Machine Gun Squadron and fought at the battle of Romani in August. He continued to serve with this unit throughout 1917 and 1918 as it moved further into Palestine and Transjordan, continually pushing back the Turkish forces. Cooper's diaries detail keen observations on military life during this time and descriptions of the battles in which the unit participated. In July 1918, while travelling between Jerusalem and Solomon's Pools, he was bucked from his horse and sustained head and eye injuries.

Cooper arrived back in Australia on 24 November 1918 and later married. He would once again serve his country, this time in the Second World War with the Department of the Army in the New South Wales Echelon and Record Office. Gordon Cooper died on 12 July 1948 and is buried at Rookwood Cemetery in Sydney.