Private Charles Gordon was killed in action on 1.7.1916 on the first day of the Battle of the Somme. According to The Official History of the War, a football was followed into battle at zero hour by the 16th Battalion for the assault on Thiepval. Leading waves were hit by machine-gun fire as the survivors were forced to lay down to wait a chance to return to their own lines. One report noted that the Battalion had advanced in perfect formation - the dead being later found in straight lines as if 'dressed' for parade.