GORDON, Charles.

Charles Gordon was ‘missing, assumed dead’ at the time St. Michael’s church War Memorial was unveiled in 1919 and his name was duly inscribed. However, in 1920 a letter from a small town in France not far from Cambrai was received by his mother of Derry Street, Brierley Hill, from Charles Gordon who was alive in France and who had been suffering from memory loss! Private Gordon said he was well, made enquiries about his bicycle and his dog, and also referred to ‘four or five of us.’ It was this last remark that led to the hope that it might refer to some small party of men who had been nursed back to health and strength by friendly civilians in France. However, these ex-soldiers had returned to France to marry French girls! Throughout the long months of waiting Mrs Gordon had never wavered in her belief that her son was alive. His regiment has not been located and his name is not on the Brierley Hill civic memorial which was unveiled in 1921.