Brian - Robert's service papers (4 pages) survive in the National Archives and are available online at Findmypast.
Briefly, he was born in Liverpool and enlisted there on 23/7/1895 with a declared age of 18 years 1 month. He was a labourer. He was 5'4", weighed 127 pounds and had a chest measurement of 33 inches. His complexion was fair, eyes blue and hair sandy. He had an indistinct tattoo on his left arm and scars on his left hand, left forearm, left eyebrow and left buttock and back.
He attested into the 2nd battalion on enlistment, was transferred to the 1st battalion 2/2/1898 and back again to the 2nd 12/10/1898. He was transferred to the Army Reserve 27/4/1903 and finally discharged 22/7/1907 after 12 years service.
He served in the UK 23/7/1895-27/12/1897 and 26/4/1903-22/7/1907 and the East Indies (i.e. India) 28/12/1897-25/4/1903. His service in India resulted in the award of the India General Service Medal with clasp Punjab Frontier 1897-98. His next of kin is shown as his brother Thomas of 26 Lemon Street, Liverpool.
The absence of the Tirah clasp on his medal confirms he wasn't at Dargai and, despite the Gordons' heavy involvement in the Boer War, he didn't serve in the South Africa either.
David
