Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

From François Berthout

Pte 2042 Clement James Bruton 
34th Australian Infantry Battalion, B Company,
9th Brigade, 3rd Australian Division
 
In the fields of the Somme, a new spring sun rises and spreads its rays through the rows of white graves which, row upon row, tell us the story of a whole generation of men who came from the other side of the world but who, united by their convictions and their ideals came to France to fight the good fight and who side by side, guided and united by the most beautiful spirit of camaraderie and fraternity, gave their youth and their today in the fields of mud and barbed wire in the name of peace and freedom so that their war would put an end to all war and together, behind the bagpipes and bugles, to the sound of whistles, went over the top under the bullets and shells that took their lives too soon far from home, but found in France, the silence of their final resting places which are the solemn and silent witnesses of the bravery and the sacrifices of heroes to whom we will be forever grateful and over whom I will always respectfully watch so that their names and their memory may live on forever.

Today, it is with the utmost respect and the deepest gratitude that I would like to honor the memory of one of these young men, one of my boys of the Somme who gave his today for our tomorrow. I would like to pay a very respectful tribute to Private number 2042 Clement James Bruton who fought in the 34th Australian Infantry Battalion, B Company, 9th Brigade, 3rd Australian Division, and who was killed in action 104 years ago, on March 31, 1918 at the age of 22 on the Somme front.

Clement James Bruton was born on July 8, 1896 in East Maitland, New South Wales, Australia, and was the son of Robert William Bruton (1871-1947) and Eleanor Jane Bruton (née Munton, 1875-1954), of Comboyne, Port -Macquarie-Hastings, New South Wales. He had two brothers, John Thomas Bruton (1900-1964) and Charles Leslie Bruton (1908-1962). Clement was educated in Minmi, New South Wales, and before the outbreak of the war, worked as a farmer.

Clement enlisted on April 1, 1916 at West Maitland, New South Wales, in the 34th Australian Infantry Battalion, 3rd Reinforcement, a battalion which was raised in the Hunter Valley, New South Wales, and was nicknamed "Maitland's Own" and "Wallabies".After a three-month training period in Maitland, Clement embarked with his unit from Sydney, New South Wales, on board HMAT A68 Anchises on August 24, 1916 and sailed for England.

On October 11, 1916, Clement arrived in England and was disembarked in Devonport where he fell slightly ill on November 20, was admitted to hospital then returned to his unit but on November 25, absented himself without leave and without pass and was punished four days of forfeiture of pay. A month later, on December 20,he embarked with his battalion from Folkestone and proceeded overseas for France.

On December 21, 1916, after a quick trip on the English Channel, Clement arrived in France and was disembarked at Etaples where he joined the 3rd Australian Divisional base depot, marched out to unit on January 17, 1917 and was taken on strength the next day with the 34th Battalion on the field at Epinette, marched to Armentieres on January 19 then joined their Reserve Billets at Steenwerck on January 23 where they remained until the end of the month.
On February 5, 1917, Clement fell ill and was admitted to the 10th Field Ambulance suffering from scabies, was discharged to duty and joined his battalion on February 23 in the Houplines trenches. The next day, the 34th Battalion was relieved by the 36th Australian Infantry Battalion and on February 25, marched into billets at Armentieres where the men were able to enjoy hot baths, followed a period of training and were employed in working parties until March 3.

On March 4, 1917, Clement and the 34th Battalion left Armentieres and moved back to the front line of Houplines where they arrived the next day, relieved the 36th Australian Infantry Battalion and held this sector until March 25 and moved back into billets at Armentieres the next day.

Three months later, on June 7, 1917, Clement and the 34th Battalion took part in their first major engagement during the Battle of Messines, Belgium.

In preparation for the allied summer offensive in Flanders, the Messines salient had to be eliminated. For years, tunnellers had dug mines beneath German trenches in the area and packed them with explosives. Before dawn on 7 June 1917, 19 mines were blown, obliterating the German positions. The explosions, heard across the English Channel, were the largest planned detonations until the advent of the atomic bomb. It is thought that 10,000 Germans were killed in the initial blasts. British, New Zealand and Australian troops advanced to take the devastated ridge. Regarded a triumph, Messines also marked the first major battle for the 3rd Australian Division under Major General John Monash. Two of his men, Private John Carroll and Captain Robert Grieve, won the Victoria Cross during the fighting. Despite the success, the battle cost 6,000 Australian casualties.

On June 11, 1917, after four days of hell in the trenches of Messines, the men of the 34th Battalion were sent to rest at Ploegsteert Wood and on June 14, moved into billets at Neuf Berquin, in the north of France to follow a period of training where they received the visit of the Australian war correspondent Charles Bean under a very hot weather then on June 23, they joined Neuve Eglise for "Baths, competitions of sport and training" and remained here until June 27 but the The next day, they received the order to return to the front line of Messines where they fought with courage in terrible conditions from July 6 to August 1.

On August 2, 1917, the 34th Battalion marched to Hillside Camp which they left on August 7 for Aldershot Camp and on August 16 were sent to Vaudringhem, Pas-De-Calais where they remained until September 25 then on September 30 , moved back to Belgium and arrived at Zonnebeke then fought near Passchendaele, entered the trenches of Ypres on October 4 then attacked in the Augustus Wood sector on October 12 but suffered catastrophic losses caused by machine gun fire from German bunkers and that Captain Clarence Smith Jeffries tried to capture by leading his men with extreme bravery but was killed in action and was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross then the whole 34th Battalion attacked to capture the Blue and Green Line but because of the heavy German barrages were not possible and the battalion dug new lines and received the order to "Hold at all costs".The next day, the battalion was very badly depleted and all the officers became casualties, the Lewis Guns and the rifles were in very bad condition and on October 14, almost annihilated, the 34th Battalion was relieved by the 43rd Australian Infantry Battalion but the rest was of very short duration and on October 15 at 6pm, the battalion took the trenches between Augustus Wood and Waterfields with the support of the 36th Australian Infantry Battalion and the New Zealand Otago Rifles and were relieved from the line of fire on October 19 by the 4th Battalion of the Yorks And Lancashire Regiment then marched to Ypres South Camp the following day and joined Vaudringhem where they remained from October 22 to November 8.

On November 15, after reorganization, Clement and the 34th Battalion marched to Rossignol Camp, near Nieppe then moved to Pont Rouge on November 23 where the men were employed in working parties then moved back to Rossignol Camp on November 30. The following month, on December 19, the battalion marched to De Seule Camp at Erquinghem and then went to Armentieres, a quiet sector of the front where they remained until the end of the month.

On January 21, 1918, Clement was granted leave in England and then joined his battalion on February 6 at Ploegsteert Wood then moved to Warneton on February 26. The following month, on March 21, the German army launched its spring offensive which was its last attempt to break through the Allied lines on the Western Front and on March 27, Clement and the 34th Battalion were sent to the Somme to stop them. On March 27, Clement arrived at Heilly and marched alongside his comrades through Bonnay, Aubigny, Cachy, Blangy-Tronville, near Villers-Bretonneux, and on March 30, entered the trenches of Hangard Wood, in support of the 33rd Australian Infantry Battalion. Unfortunately, the next day, while the battalion was in Cachy , not far from Villers-Bretonneux, the German artillery fired on the village and Clement was instantly killed by a shell which also killed three of his friends, he was 22 years old.

Today, Clement James Bruton rests in peace alongside his friends, comrades and brothers in arms at Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery, Somme, and his grave bears the following inscription: "He died an Australian hero, the greatest death of all."

One of Clement's brothers, John Thomas Bruton also fought in the Great War with the rank of Private Service number 2286 in the 35th Australian Infantry Battalion. John survived the war and returned to Australia on December 10, 1918 but died struck by a car on Pacific Highway, Coopernook, New South Wales on March 25, 1964 at the age of 63. He is now resting in peace at Comboyne Cemetery,New South Wales.
Clement, it was in the prime of your life that you courageously answered the call under the rising sun to do your duty under the colors of Australia and that you took a step forward alongside your friends and comrades to fight and do your bit on the battlefields of the great war in the name of peace and freedom for which you gave your today in the mud, in the tears and the blood that a whole generation of men shed beyond the barbed wire on the devastated terrain of Messines, Passchendaele and Villers-Bretonneux which saw so many young boys who fell under the fire of machine guns and shells that they charged with resolution and conviction bayonets forward in courageous attacks in which were shown with so much bravery but which ended in bloodshed under deluges of lead and fire which took the souls of young boys who, in fury and pain, lost their childhood and their innocence and lived day and night with the death that awaited them but in the face of this hell on earth which dragged the world into madness and flames, they remained united and stood together with their knees deep in the mud, they watched over each other gathered in the most beautiful spirit of camaraderie in the face of the inhumanity and brutality which mowed down so many souls through the poppies which are the silent and eternal witnesses of exceptional men who gave their lives for our country and which remind us with force and emotion of the sacrifices of an entire generation whose lives were taken too soon in the fields of the Somme where they rest in peace in the love and gratitude of France they knew little but for which they did and gave so much side by side, a country which will always be theirs and over whom I will always watch as my sons and whose memory I will keep strong and aliveso that what they endured and faced in the darkest hours of history will never be forgotten.They were young and so brave, determined to do what was right and fought like lions, they showed the perseverance, conviction and bravery of the entire Australian nation whose sons and daughters served proudly far from home, all united in the ANZAC spirit who gave them the strength and the courage to go over the top followed by their brothers in arms.Gone but not and never forgotten, they wrote history in golden letters and made their country proud. Far from home they gave their lives and were deeply mourned and left behind broken families who received with trembling hands and with heavy hearts the terrible telegrams announcing to them that their sons were killed in action for the king and the empire and left behind them broken families who had to live without their men who found in France, after so much pain and suffering, silence and the peace of their final resting places on which are inscribed the names and lives of a whole generation of young boys over whom I will always watch over with honor and dignity, with respect and gratitude to bring them back to life and to give to their families, the comfort and the love of a young Frenchman who will always be proud and honored to be the guardian of the memory of the young Diggers who fought and fell in the Somme and who will be forever, in my heart, my boys of the Somme.Thank you so much Clement,for everything.At the going down of the sun and in the morning,we will remember him, we will remember them.

aka Robert William Bruton.

Father Robert W Bruton and Mother Elleanor Burton, lived at Comboyne, New South Wales.

Enlisted alongside his brother John Thomas Bruton but were seperated into 34th & 35th Battalions at Maitland Show Ground in 1916.