Kenneth Charles Gordon
Born in November 1918 at Kōpuawhara, near Mahia, Ken enisted in the New Zealand Navy, with the serial number 9117, as one of the Navy's last seaman boys at 14, and experienced combat for the first time when he was 16.
After training he was assigned to HMNZS Gambia, which New Zealand in February 1945, to join one of the largest fleets ever assembled by the Royal Navy, the British Pacific Fleet. Gambia had 26 seaman boys among her compliment. Ken was a No 2 gunner on an Oerlikon twin-barrel 22mm anti-aircraft gun on HMNZS Gambia. In 1945, Gambia was part of the British Pacific fleet which attacked Japanese installations and facilities and came under attack from kamikazes for the first time.
On August 9, the day the second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, Gambia was firing on the steelworks at Kamaishi on Northern Honshu Island. Kaimashi had been attacked a few weeks before, by the Third Fleet (US), and they returned with elements of the British Pacific Fleet, including Gambia. They made four passes across Kaimashi harbour, at an average distance of 13km. Ken said it was one of his most profound memories. "The ships had to do at least 32 knots. On board a ship, that's incredible. The air intakes are roaring, sucking air in. The ship is trembling under that power, the vibration feels like about 12 inches. It's absolutely incredible. Some ships had paravanes streaming from the bow, a device that would cut mines from their cables. Any mines that were cut had to be shot out."
He stayed in the Navy for eight years after the war, becoming a Petty Officer and Physical Training Instructor. He supervised Compulsory Military Training and thoroughly enjoyed working with young people. In civilian life, he returned to Gisborne and became a winemaker, then a horticultural tutor at Tairawhiti Polytechnic.
Still in the Navy during Her Majesty the Queen's first visit to New Zealand in 1953-1954, Ken served in the Royal Guard as the monarch met thousands of New Zealanders at Eden Park. In April 2025, 97 year old Ken received a letter from His Majesty the King saying "A Message to the New Zealand Veterans of the Second World War on the 80th Anniversary of the War's End." and "great admiration that I write to thank you, once again, for your selfless service in those most difficult and dangerous times.". It ended "it is my fervent hope that the years have brought you to a place of peace, and that peace shall remain with you always."
In 2025, Ken lives in Gisborne and is thought to be one of only 400 New Zealander WWII veterans left.