Gordon Fordyce was born on June 13, 1920, the son of Gordon William Fordyce Senior and Janet Wright (nee Marshall, born in England) Fordyce, of 309 Maxwell Street, Sarnia. At the time of his death, his mother resided at 159 ½ North Front Street, Sarnia and his father was residing at Belleville, Ontario. Gordon was the youngest of four children; he had one sister, Margaret Isobel (would become Mrs. Kenneth Buxton), of Sarnia, and two brothers who at the time of his death were John Fordyce in Sarnia, and Sergeant George Fordyce, overseas. His brother George Fordyce was a member of the 26th Battery in Sarnia when war broke out, and went overseas in 1940. In September of 1944, brother George, who was a bombardier serving with the Royal Canadian Artillery in France, would send his mother Janet Fordyce in Sarnia three souvenirs from his travels. The souvenirs included: a piece of paper money issued to Nazi troops when they occupied the Netherlands in 1940, which was dated October 1, 1938 (a year before the war began); a sample of propaganda which the Germans dropped in an attempt to induce the Allied soldiers to surrender (with purported excerpts from letters written home by British and American prisoners of war, telling of what fine treatment they received at the hands of the Nazis); and a “safe conduct pass” which were used by Germans who surrender to the Allies.

 

Gordon Fordyce was educated in Sarnia public schools and Sarnia Collegiate. He was employed for two years at Kingston Brothers Service Station, North Vidal street, prior to enlisting, as a clerk and as a service station attendant. Gordon Fordyce enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force in London, Ontario on August 12, 1941. He received his training in Quebec (Valcartier, St. Hubert, Victoriaville and Windsor Mills), in Yorkton, Saskatchewan and in Halifax. He gained his pilot’s flying badge on September 11, 1942, attaining the rank of Warrant Officer Class II-Pilot, going overseas in November of 1942. Beginning in mid-June of 1943, Gordon would go on to fly twenty-four operational sorties with RAF Bomber Command, twenty-one with the #12 RAF Squadron based at RAF Wickenby, Lincolnshire and three sorties with #156 RAF Pathfinder Force based at RAF Warboys, Cambridgeshire. Gordon and his crew of six others, volunteered to join the prestigious Pathfinder Force. The chances of surviving a tour of 45 sortie operations in the winter of 1943/44 was about 15%, lower than that in the trenches of the First World War.12

As a member of RAF #156 Squadron “We Light the Way”, Pathfinder Force, Warrant Officer Class II-Pilot Gordon Fordyce’s Lancaster Bomber crew also consisted of Sergeants Lawrence J. Collins (N), Albert Edward Egan (WAG), R. Harris (BA), George Johnson (F/E), Ronald Horace Hodges (AG) and James Steel Minogue (AG, of Cumberland, Ontario). This crew, as part of #12 Squadron and of #156 Squadron participated in raids targeting cities such as Modane in France, Genoa and Milan in Italy, and Cologne, Hamburg, Nurenburg, Hanover, Munich and Berlin, in Germany, as they would record it, “dropping nickels” (propaganda leaflets) and bombs.

The Battle of Berlin was the British air bombing campaign on Berlin (and other German cities) beginning in mid-November 1943, lasting until March 1944. On the night of November 23, 1943, a total of 383 aircraft; 365 Lancasters, ten Halifaxes and eight Mosquitos, left England targeting Berlin. Gordon Fordyce and his crew aboard Lancaster aircraft JB293 were part of the 383 aircraft that night. The target was obscured by clouds, but the Pathfinders arrived on time and marked the target accurately. Also helping the bombers mark their targets through the clouds was the glow of major fires still burning from the previous night when 764 aircraft attacked the city, the heaviest bombardment against Berlin to date. On the night of November 23, the time over the target was 7:58 – 8:15 p.m. and 1,377 tons of bombs were dropped, 734 high explosives, and 643 incendiaries. Though the raid was classified as a success, twenty RAF aircraft were lost, all Lancasters, including Gordon Fordyce’s Lancaster bomber.

On its return from bombing Berlin, Gordon Fordyce’s Lancaster crashed into High Acre House, near Manor Farm, Harpley, Norfolk, England. A local lorry driver/Home Guard Sergeant heard the crash and rushed to the scene only 200 yards away. He entered the burning building and broke the plane’s cabin with bricks and rescued an airman trapped in the burning nose, another stuck under the wing, the rear-gunner trapped in the broken tail and a fourth member who had been flung from the plane. Three of the seven Lancaster crew members died in the crash. Along with Flight-Sergeant Gordon Fordyce, also killed were Sgt. Ronald H. Hodges, mid-upper gunner, (RAF), and Sgt. George Johnson, flight engineer, (RAF).

In late November 1943, Janet Fordyce in Sarnia would receive a telegram from Ottawa informing her that her son, Gordon William Fordyce, has been reported killed on Tuesday, November 23, while on active service overseas, and further information would be forwarded when received. No further details of the action that cost the life of her son were given. On November 30th, 1943, Janet Fordyce would receive a cable informing her that her son, Flight-Sergeant Gordon William Fordyce, killed in action with the R.C.A.F. on active duty on November 23, was buried at Cambridge, England, yesterday afternoon at two o’clock. Gordon Fordyce would later be officially listed as, Killed during air operations, overseas (England).

In April 1945, Mrs. Janet Fordyce would receive a photograph of the grave of her son who was buried in the Royal Air Force plot at Cambridge Borough Cemetery, Cambridge, England. The photograph and details of the plot were sent by R.A.F. Flt. Lieut. J.F. Flynn, regional burials officer in England. Officer Flynn explained that the plot was a gift from the Borough of Cambridge to the Royal Air Force, which now contained many airmen of all ranks from all parts of the Dominion, together with French, Belgian and Polish comrades. In the photograph, Gordon Fordyce’s grave was marked with a wooden cross, which would be replaced by a stone memorial after the war. There was also a wreath there, which was a tribute to him by his friends. Officer Flynn explained that the area was is in the care of the Imperial War Graves Commission, which was responsible for its maintenance for all time. He added:

The principal architect to the Imperial War Graves Commission was here some months ago and he showed me the design for the final layout of the plot. I can assure you it will be very beautiful. The Royal Air Force desires to help the families of those lads who rest so far from their homeland and we are always ready to give whatever information we can.

Twenty-three year old Gordon Fordyce, who had been overseas only one year prior to his death, is buried in Cambridge City Cemetery, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom, Grave 14518. Gordon’s service awards included the 1939-45 Star, Europe Star, Defence Medal, War Medal and the C.V.S.M..

SOURCES: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, J, L, M, N, R, 2C, 2D, l