Elizabeth Marjory (Elma) Gordon

In memoriam

Elizabeth Marjory (Elma) Gordon V. A. D. 10th September 1917 Age 43 (Cross) Blessed are all they That fear the Lord And walk in his ways Psalm 128.V.1

Elizabeth was the daughter of General William Gordon, C.I.E., and Harriet Elizabeth Steuart Gordon, of Banffshire. A Volunteer with the Voluntary Aid Detachment, British Red Cross Society. Elizabeth died from malaria. Her remains were buried at Mikra British Cemetery. ______________________________________________________ Elizabeth Marjorie Gordon , was living at the family home in 1911. She was 37 and was supported by "private means". As was befitting the daughter of a senior army figure at the time, she was provided with a private education at home, followed by a time in Dusseldorf, Germany. Her service to her country wouldn't begin until 1917. As the Great War progressed Elizabeth, known to her family and friends as Elmo, volunteered to nurse some of the many casualties. She sailed to Greece as a VAD (Voluntary Aid Detachment,) and arrived in June 1917. Her posting was to 65th General Hospital, Salonika. She caught malaria almost straightaway and died on September 11, 1917, aged 43. Despite her brief time there, her matron had already declared what a hard worker she was. Elizabeth was buried in the Mikra British Cemetery in Thessalonika, in Kalamaria, one of 480 casualties buried there. The inscription on her gravestone reads, "Blessed are all they who fear the Lord and walk in his ways, Psalm 128 v 1." Her name can be found in the book Croydon and The Grear War , one of the few women from the town remembered for their sacrifice. She left and estate of £7,146 – worth £620,000 today – to her sisters, Mrs Dora Hill – she who was married at Croydon Parish Church in 1907 – and Miss Aymee Gordon. Her decision to contribute to the war effort may have been linked to the death of her father. General Gordon died, aged 93, in April 1917. He was buried in the churchyard of St John's, Shirley, next to his wife, who had died in February 1908, aged 59. Two press cuttings remembered him: "Death of noted Banffshire soldier", "One of the oldest officers in the army". Probate was granted in May to his daughter Elizabeth of £3984. Freed from the family duty and ties to her ageing father, she volunteered as a nurse. She, too, has a memorial in St John's churchyard. It never fails to surprise how much information can be retrieved following a single entry in a parish register. But then again, not everyone signs themselves as an Indian Army general. The motto of Clan Gordon is "bydand" , a Scots word meaning abiding, or steadfast. For this branch of the Gordon family, they could add service and sacrifice.

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