Profile partially written by Glen Gaudet, Vice Chairman at http://wartimeheritage.com/

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      Private Gordon Allen Anthony was born in South Brookfield on July 14th, 1923 to Henry and Cora "Gladys" (nee Mosher) Anthony.  A farming family, Henry, Gladys, Gordon and two sisters, Clara and Alice emigrated to the USA in 1927, when Gordon was four years old, and settled in Pennsylvania.  After Henry’s death in 1930, Gordon gained a step-sister, Avis Niepert when his mother remarried.  Gordon was working as a landscaper at the time of his enlistment, and was described as having a ruddy complexion, with brown eyes and brown hair.

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      Gordon enlisted on March 4th, 1943 in the 511th Airborne Infantry Regiment of the 11th Airborne Division of the United States Army.  He enlisted as a “Non-US Citizen” and was 19 years old.  He was made a Private and given service number 33464169.  Private Anthony underwent seventeen weeks of Basic training and three more weeks of Jump training.  For the next year, the Regiment underwent training exercises in several US locations to prepare for overseas deployment.

 

      Private Anthony applied for US citizenship on April 15th, 1944.  On May 8th, he sailed with a complement of 2000 on the SS Sea Pike, arriving in Oro Bay, New Guinea on May 28th.  For the next five months, Private Anthony underwent Airborne, Jungle and Amphibious training along with his compatriots on the 511th Regiment, departing on November 7th to join the Leyte Campaign to retake the Philippines.  Private Gordon Anthony perished in action against the Japanese Army in the Philippines on December 15th, 1944.  He was 21 years old.

           

      It is not known if he had been granted US citizenship in the eight months since he had applied.  Nor is it known if he renounced his Canadian citizenship, as is the current US Service policy.

           

      Private Anthony was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart Medal from the United States Army.  He is memorialized with a headstone at Saint Paul’s Cemetery, Swiftwater Pennsylvania. 

 

      Private Anthony is not commemorated in the World War Two Book of Remembrance and he is not listed on the Caledonia Cenotaph.

 

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Online References

http://wartimeheritage.com/whaww2ns4/wwii_anthony_gordon_allan.htm

War Grave Search – https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/  Nil records

Local Grave Search - https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/22520602/gordon-allan-anthony

Canadian Virtual War Memorial - https://www.veterans.gc.ca/en/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial  Nil Records

Second World War Personnel Records Database)- https://recherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/help/kia Nil records

Portions of this profile were initially written for the Wartime Heritage website, which is dedicated to “remembering the wartime heritage and history of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada, other Commonwealth Nations and Allied Countries during World War I, World War II and other conflicts.”  http://wartimeheritage.com/whaww2ns4/wwii_anthony_gordon_allan.htm