He is pictured here in civilian clothes.
Who is Gordon?
He is the male protagonist of a story duology I am writing, called All’s Fair In Love and War, and Love, War and Peace (a working title). Over half of AFILAW is told through his eyes. It’s set in the 1940s, specifically during the Second World War, so there is period-typical racism.
Full legal name: Gordon Augustus Gresley
Age when AFILAW begins: 22, turning 23 in August (it begins in late July)
Personality: Stoic; sarcastic; a bit of a bitch when he wants to be; pessimistic; socially awkward; introverted
Sexuality: Apothisexual (sex-repulsed)
Nicknames: Gordy (Charles, Isobel and Scott); Shooting Star (his call sign, which he got after he crashed his plane into a tree after being distracted by a shooting star)
Hobbies/Pastimes: Reading (specifically the works of Cicero, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Wilfred Owen); writing (mainly novels and poetry inspired by Owen’s works); cooking (yes, he cooks. He learnt how from both of his parents); drawing (mostly planes, trains and boats); flying
Favourite Singer (post-war, didn’t really listen to music before the war): Frank Sinatra
Accent: British RP, which he copied from the host of his favourite radio show. He has a natural Yorkshire accent, which he slips into when angry
Aspirations: Radio show host/lawyer/author/journalist/anything else that will require either speaking or writing or both, also maybe detective
Comfort Food: Anything with pasta
Favourite animal: Ball python
Can he ride a bike? Yes, but hasn’t done so for a while
Radio or Television? Radio
Favourite Plane: Spitfire Mk. I, specifically his Spitifre Mk. I, who he named Stella, after his would-be twin sister (she was stillborn)
If I Could Describe Him In One Song, What Would It Be? Wait For It, from Hamilton, with Natural by Imagine Dragons as a close second.
Content Warning: mention of abuse, self-harm and suicidal ideation.
He was born in Doncaster, North Yorkshire, on the 8th August 1917, at just past 10AM. His mother, Theodosia, AKA Thea, Gresley (born in Senegal, 1887) was reportedly in labour for over 30 hours with him. His father, Rex Gresley (born in Italy, 1890) was a man of many professions: First World War pilot, restaurant owner, Ancient History teacher and Italian teacher. He was originally going to be named after Roman emperor Gordian, Rex’s idea, which Thea vetoed, and they settled on Gordon, but Rex got to choose his middle name: Augustus.
Gordon’s older brother Scott was born on the 7th May 1915. To those familiar with maritime history, this date is known as the day the liner Lusitania was sunk by U-20. Thea loves telling the story of how, a day after giving birth, Rex read in the newspaper about Lusitania’s sinking. This newspaper mentioned the exact time the liner slipped beneath the water, which just so happened to be the exact time Scott popped out.
Gordon’s life started to go downhill at the age of 16, when Thea and Rex were killed in an automobile accident. Scott became his brother’s legal guardian. Around this time, he met Elizabeth Grey, an older woman who he fell in love with. Elizabeth used her connections in high-up places to isolate Gordon from everyone else, where she verbally, and sometimes physically, abused him. He eventually escaped after nearly 2 years, but she later split his left hand open at the palm in a drunken rage. He didn’t go to the police as he was of the belief that nobody would believe him, on account of his race and Elizabeth’s untouchable status. To escape Elizabeth, he and Scott moved to London, before moving to the countryside when Elizabeth found them again.
During the Second World War, Gordon and Scott went down completely different paths. Scott was somehow recruited into MI5 to spy on German territories in Europe, particularly in France after the country fell. Gordon enlisted in the RAF, after being encouraged by Charles, his only friend. He turned out to be a natural when it came to flying, which didn’t surprise him. His dad had taught him everything there was to know about planes. He and Charles were put in the same squadron, stationed at Northolt, through pure chance. There, Gordon encountered John Ruxby, who took an immediate dislike to the former, as did everyone else bar Charles and Luke, a Church of England priest’s son from the Midlands.
On the 22nd July 1940, after having just shot down his fifth enemy aircraft and becoming the first ace in the squadron, Gordon discovered that the pilot of the plane he’d just shot down had made it out alive. He, Luke and Charles went to investigate, with the intention of taking the pilot as a prisoner of war. However, all three of them were stunned to see that the pilot was not only injured, but a woman. Unbeknownst to everyone, Charles convinced his father, who was very high up in the RAF, to let the injured pilot stay under the watchful eye of one of the squadron members. Gordon was chosen for the job, which he was a little relieved about. He was terrified that the injured pilot, whose name he’d discovered was Isobel, would be killed (or worse) by anyone else.
Over time, Gordon ran into a problem. A big one. He was starting to fall in love with Isobel. And fast. They started a secret relationship in February of 1941, which Scott only knew about after visiting the couple in December of that year.
In March 1942, John discovered what they were up to, and ordered Isobel to be sent to London for ‘interrogation’, which Gordon (correctly) interpreted as John-speak for ‘execution’. So, to protect Isobel’s life, he helped her escape. He had no idea why Isobel was actually in England: she was helping the British fight the Nazis from inside Germany, and was supposed to be meeting with a fellow agent to hand over information… only the agent got held up, and she remained stuck. This agent was Scott. Also she had broken her leg in five places, and the break took longer than expected to heal, having to be re-broken when one break healed wrong.
In October that year, Gordon wrote Isobel a letter, which was intercepted that November by John, who finally had an excuse to ruin Gordon’s life, unaware that Isobel was helping England. Gordon shut himself away, spending the rest of 1942, all of 1943 and the first half of 1944 hidden from the world. During this time, Gordon was shot in his shoulder, his ankle and the side of his abdomen by John, and was talked out of suicide three times by Scott. However, he still continued to self-harm, a bad habit he’d fallen into at 16, believing that nobody would care if he died.
He also discovered through Scott that the only reason he hadn’t been executed for treason was the fact that Isobel was working with the British, and Scott had the documents to prove it. However, there was another reason: Charles had used his father’s influence to keep his friend alive. This caused a massive falling-out between the two friends, as Gordon was known for despising when rich, powerful men used their influence to get things done their way. They didn’t speak until Charles reached out two weeks before the D-Day invasion, asking for his help. Gordon reluctantly agreed.
After taking a hit from enemy fire during the attack (which caused the scars on his face), Gordon managed to get his plane back to the airfield, before having his injuries tended to by his friend Philippa, John’s ex-wife (who left him earlier in the war, when she realised he’d been having an affair with a German woman) who had been transferred to his squadron by her own request.
After the war, Gordon adopted a golden retriever, who he named Sherlock, and a ball python that Scott had smuggled into the UK from his holiday with his girlfriend Ophelia, who he named Athena. He published his first book, a murder mystery, under the pen name Arthur Collins, which was loosely based on a murder case that he had solved a week prior to beginning his first draft. He also discovered the play An Inspector Calls, by J.B. Priestley, which he thoroughly enjoyed.
He and Isobel, who was now helping her mother run a small clothing business while recommencing her law degree, were reunited in 1946, shortly after Gordon went to see the aforementioned play. Isobel had gone to see AIC the same night, and she recognised Gordon and tried to get his attention, but he didn’t see her (too focussed on Sherlock). The next evening, Athena escaped, and was found by Isobel’s mother Ilse, who had moved to London with her daughter and absolutely loved snakes. Ilse, unaware that they had met before, re-introduced the two former lovers, who recommenced their relationship about a week later.
Isobel, after hearing about everything that happened to her lover during the war, was furious with John. Mainly because he was actually having an affair with a German woman, and freely giving her intelligence. So she and Gordon (who did not want to do this) teamed up with Scott, now an actor, Ophelia, now a French teacher and Philippa, a well-known journalist and co-host of her father’s radio show, to write an article on John. Their evidence was undeniable: dozens of letters to and from John’s lover, revealing many details about the war effort, specifically his squadron’s orders. Unfortunately, the case never went to trial, as John was found dead the week after the article came out. He was murdered in a bar fight gone wrong. Specifically, he went out like Julius Caesar: stabbed 20+ times on the Ides of March.
Gordon’s self-destructive tendencies never fully went away, but they did seem to quell after Isobel came back into his life. Isobel was completely aware of this, and loved him anyway. He was still his pessimistic, stoic, sarcastic self, but he had softened a little since he adopted Sherlock and Athena, and especially when Isobel came back. She encouraged him to go out and try new things, such as tagging along with Charles, Luke and their new friend Raj on their Friday nights out, or seeing more and more of Scott’s plays. Gordon found himself actually enjoying life for once, all thanks to Isobel. During this time, he learnt way too much about Charles’ private life, which was when he discovered that he did not like sex.
He and Isobel spent their lives together flitting between Germany and England, enjoying life together. They got married in 1947, and never had children of their own, instead choosing to adopt Gus, a boy who had been orphaned by the war, as well as two more snakes, bringing their total number of pets to five: Sherlock and four ball pythons (Athena, Lilith, Lucifer and Medusa).
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