Background
Gordon, Ernest was born on May 31, 1916 in Greenock, Scotland. Son of James and Sarah Rae (Macmillan) Gordon. naturalized, 1960.
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(WORLD WAR II PRISONER CAMP, RIVER KWAI. CHRISTIAN FAITH.)
WORLD WAR II PRISONER CAMP, RIVER KWAI. CHRISTIAN FAITH.
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Gordon, Ernest was born on May 31, 1916 in Greenock, Scotland. Son of James and Sarah Rae (Macmillan) Gordon. naturalized, 1960.
Bachelor's Degree, Hartford Theological Seminary, 1948. Master of Sacred Theology, Hartford Theological Seminary, 1949. Postgraduate, University Glasgow, 1951.
Doctor of Laws, Bloomfield College, 1957. Data Control Language (honorary), Bishop's University of Canada, 1966. Doctor of Humane Letters (honorary), Marshall University, 1973.
Doctor of Divinity (honorary), St. Andrews University, Scotland, 1976. Doctor of Letters (honorary), Grove City College, 1988.
A native of Scotland, as an officer in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, Gordon spent three years in a Japanese prisoner of war (Prisoner Of War) camp during the Second World War. He chronicled his experiences on the Death Railway in his book Through the Valley of the Kwai. The book served as an inspiration to the film To End All Wars which opened in 2001.
Ernest Gordon was a company commander with the 2nd Battalion, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders.
He fought in several battles in the Malayan Campaign and the Battle of Singapore. He was one of the last Allied soldiers to cross the causeway from Johore before it was blown up.
After the capture of Singapore, he escaped to Java, and attempted to sail several thousand miles from Padang to Sri Lanka with a group of other British officers in a native fishing boat. His boat was captured by some Japanese warships, and he was returned to Singapore as a prisoner of war.
Ernest found his sense of self and spirituality while a prisoner and one of the participant soldiers who helped build The Bridge on the River Kwai.
As history shows, the Japanese were especially cruel to their prisoners. The death rate was quite high He underwent very torturous events, that led to his being placed in the "Death Ward" designated for those who were not expected to survive.
(These conditions included malnutrition, beriberi, malaria, tropical ulcer, and an appendectomy)
He was treated there by two special soldiers in their late twenties, a Methodist named "Dusty Miller", a simple gardener from Newcastle upon Tyne.
And "Dinty" Moore a devout Roman Catholic. The two gave 24-hour care to Ernest.
They would boil rags and clean and massage Ernest"s diseased legs every day. To the great surprise of everyone, Ernest survived, and as a consequence many of the POWs experienced a revival of faith and hope for life.
Dusty was one who did not lose faith and never met the cruel treatment he received with anger.
In a surprising turn of events, Ernest survived the war. Upon liberation as he sought news of his friends he found that two weeks before the war"s end Dusty had been crucified by a Japanese guard who was frustrated with Dusty"s sense of calm in the face of hardship. Dinty, whom Ernest cared for and admired profoundly, died when the Allies sank his unmarked prisoner transport ship.
(Now A Major Motion Picture Starring Robert Carlyle and Ki...)
(WORLD WAR II PRISONER CAMP, RIVER KWAI. CHRISTIAN FAITH.)
(Book by Gordon, Ernest)
(Condition: Very Good. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed. Ships...)
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Captain 93d Highlanders, 1939-1946, PTO, prisoner of war, 1942-1945. Member Victoria Institute London, Royal Institute Philosophy (London), Church Service Society of America (founder), Highland Brigade Club (London), Burma Star Club, British Officers Club (president), Nassau-Princeton Club. Clubs: Highland Brigade (London).
Burma Star, British Officers. Nassau-Princeton.
Married Helen McIntosh Robertson, December 17, 1945 (deceased February 1997). Children: Gillian Margaret, Alastair James.
