Jim Gordon (1907-1986) had enlisted in 1940 aged 33. In Syria his infantry company was ordered to capture a Vichy French-held feature but became pinned down by intense machine-gun fire from a strongly fortified position. Gordon crawled close to the enemy post and then launched a solo attack with rifle and bayonet. After this, the company was able to take the objective.

Gordon later served in Papua and New Guinea. He joined the Australian Regular Army after the war. Even after his retirement as a warrant officer in 1968, he continued to work at Campbell Barracks, Swanbourne, Western Australia. "I always liked the army life," he once said.