Photo: Brian Chandler
The headstone which reads:
In Loving remembrance of
Bernard Vernon Gordon 2nd Lt. R.F.C.
Dec. 14th 1916 aged ?18
Donald Jervis Gordon
?? and 2nd Lt. Border Regiment
?? July 3rd 1916 aged 24
Thine eyes shall see the King in his beauty
we may also in heart and mind thither ascend
Simon Glancey has submitted the following:
The Casualty Card from the R.A.F. Museum has the following:
BE.2E 7244
63 Squadron R.F.C.
Flying accident. Probably machine folding in air (this is not confirmed by further enquiry).
Court of Inquiry – caused by pilot getting into a spin in the clouds and which he was not experienced enough to get out of.
The wing broke thro’ the excessive strain imposed on it on account of the spin, and this may have been helped by the fact that the wood of the rear spar was defective.
Flight Magazine 11/01/1917:
Second Lieutenant BERNARD VERNON GORDON, R.F.C., who was killed whilst flying on December 14th, was 18 years of age and had received his commission direct from Eastbourne College. He was the youngest son of the late Thomas Gordon and of Mrs. T. Gordon, of Eastbourne and Sevenoaks. His brother, Second Lieutenant Donald Jervis Gordon, was killed near Thiepval on July 3rd, 1916.
The accident occurred near Ancroft, 63 Squadron being based at Cramlington at the time.
