YOUNG, Albert Ernest Clifford
| Service Number: | VX117450 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 28 August 1942 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 1st Royal Australian Engineers Training Battalion |
| Born: | Beech Forest, Victoria, Australia , 8 February 1922 |
| Home Town: | Beech Forest, Colac-Otway, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Farmer |
| Died: | Beerwah, Queensland, Australia, 2 November 2003, aged 81 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Colac General Cemetery, Victoria Plot: CLC-COE-04-807-05A. Memorial ID: #194851336 |
| Memorials: |
World War 2 Service
| 28 Aug 1942: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, VX117450, 1st Royal Australian Engineers Training Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 3 Jan 1945: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, VX117450, 1st Royal Australian Engineers Training Battalion |
Help us honour Albert Ernest Clifford Young's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Ian Fox
Albert Ernest Clifford 'Cliff' Young was a potato farmer and athlete. He lived at the family home in Beech Forest with his mother and brother Sid.
Cliff spent just over two years as a Sapper in the Royal Australian Engineers during WW2.
Cliff is best noted for his unexpected Westfield Sydney to Melbourne Ultra Marathon win (875 kilometres), in 1983 at 61 years of age. Cliff trained for the race by running in gumboots on his property and is renowned for his ungainly running style. He ran at a slow loping pace and trailed the leaders for most of the course, but by denying himself sleep and running while the others slept, he slowly gained on them and eventually won by a large margin.
He was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia 'for long distance running'.
A memorial in the shape of a gumboot in Beech Forest is dedicated to him.
[Source: Colac Family History Project/WW2 Honour Roll]
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