Evening star., 1942-11-18
". S. Attackers West Of Oron
Personally Led by General
Lt.W. T. Gordon Of D.. c. at Side .
Of Unnamed Officer Amid Fighting

toward us from patches OF vegeta-
ton. There was q number Of them
moving slowly several feet apart.
We couldn't distinguish anything
about them, but we assumed they
were hostile.
The generals aide, First 1t. Will
liam T. Gordon Of Washington,
D. c., got ready to fire. The general
kept going, the two Of us beside him.
Then challenges were exchanged
and the figures proved to be men,
bers Of the British units landed soon
after our craft hit the shore.
When he established that the
beach operations were satisfactory,
the general, now accompanied also
by Maj. Harry Critz, FL. Paso, Tex,
staff artillery ofhcer, moved up. :.
Americans Held Advantage.
Travelling in jeep, the general
arrived at Djebel Murdjadjo along
with forward elements some IA miles
from the beach. BY reaching their
first objective before daylight, our
forces held the advantage despite
the fact the terrain seemed made
for sniper and machine-gun con-
cealment.
BY this time the troops were un-
der heavy fire from automatic rifles,
machine guns and artillery. The
roads up to the mountain were like
wise peppered. The general took
charge, personally leading assault
units forward with the cry:
Fire and advance. Don't be
pinned down making yourself
target!"
At one stage of this action, a body
of cavalry counterattacked. 1t.
Gordon led the attack against it.
The general was right with him.
The horsemen were routed,
Artillery fire increased, and snip
ing seemed to come from all direc-
tions. The general was consistently
rallying his men, prompting them to
call back:
Where you go, general, we'll go,
tool"
They did.
For many hours the assault bat
talon was cut of from supporting
units and the regimental command
post, our communications having
failed temporarily.
The generals presence did much
to hold the strategy true to plan,
and by covering much ground rap
idly, he brought attacking outfits
into iaison.
Ate Only \ Few Bites.
Throughout the three days ac-
ton, the general ate scarcely more
than a few bites of cold field ra-
tions and few biscuits. When the
going was toughest he'd smoke
more cigarettes, talk about his
previous jaunts about the world,
and exclaim, Il guess I'm just a
damned fool. I could have stayed
home and everybody would have
said that was just the right thing
to do.
But here I am and I'd be un-
happy if I were'n here. But this is
my last war"
Ae' 1oAuoil, AiAo dAuC, dASO Wdo uii-
der fire constantly and met situa-
tions coolly. The general talked
about Bill.
Bill said he was afraid" the COM
mander commented, but hell! He
wasn't afraid. He proved himself
lots of times, especially by taking of
after that cavalry and. by the way,
he got us out of trouble repeatedly
by his superb handling of that jeep."
: The generals other aide, young
first lieutenant. was killed the first
morning of action trying to take a
machine-gun nest with tommy
gun.
1t. William T. Gordon is the son
of Col. w. w. Gordon, who was COM
mandant of Fort Myer for two years,
and Mrs. Gordon. The colonel, who
left Fort Myer five months ago, is
now with the Inspector Generals
Department, detailed to the Army
Air Forces on Long Island, N. Y. A
cavalry officer, Col. Gordon has also
served as instructor at the Army
War college here.
Bill is Is and native of
Cheyenne, Wyo. Later he lived at
Ell Paso and Baltimore. Before
going abroad he was with the
cavalry at Fort Riley, Kans., and
was on border patrol near Phoenix,
Ariz., after the United States got
into the war.
1t. Gordon's wife Betty and their
6-month-old daughter Catherine,
whom the lieutenant saw when she
was 3 weeks old-just before he left
for overseas-are staying with her
father, Brig. Gen. P. E. Brown at
1918 Forty-fourth street NV.
Mrs. Gordon is a graduate of
George Washington University and
was married to 1t. Gordon in 1941
here. Her husband attended New
Mexico Military Academy and
Joined the Army as lieutenant in
1941.