CASEY, Clifford Henry
| Service Number: | 30 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 25 February 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 11th Machine Gun Company |
| Born: | Gympie, Queensland, Australia, 12 December 1885 |
| Home Town: | Milton, Brisbane, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Not yet discovered |
| Died: | Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 24 October 1946, aged 60 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Lutwyche Cemetery, Brisbane, Qld Plot number ANZ-7-82-33 |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 25 Feb 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 30, 11th Machine Gun Company | |
|---|---|---|
| 5 Jun 1916: | Involvement Private, 30, 11th Machine Gun Company, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '21' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Borda embarkation_ship_number: A30 public_note: '' | |
| 5 Jun 1916: | Embarked Private, 30, 11th Machine Gun Company, HMAT Borda, Sydney | |
| 29 Jun 1917: | Honoured Mention in Dispatches, Awarded, and promulgated, 'London Gazette', second Supplement, No. 29890 (2 January 1917); 'Commonwealth Gazette' No. 103 (29 June 1917). | |
| 4 Jun 1918: | Discharged AIF WW1, Private, 30, 11th Machine Gun Company, 1st MD, Medically discharged, wounding |
Help us honour Clifford Henry Casey's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Evan Evans
From Australian Remembrance Army
Private Clifford Henry Casey (Service No. 30), an Australian World War One veteran who was Mentioned in Despatches for distinguished and gallant services, is among almost 800 previously unmarked WWI veterans’ graves in Lutwyche Cemetery we have now marked with a plaque recognising their service for Australia.
We unveiled his plaque in Lutwyche Cemetery on 15 April 2023, along with a further 246 plaques on the previously unmarked graves of Australian World War One veterans:
See Australian Remembrance Army Facebook page
Clifford Henry Casey was born on 12 December in Gympie, Queensland, to Thomas William Casey and Catherine Casey (née Donohoe). He enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in Brisbane on 25 February 1916, stating his occupation as bootmaker, his age as thirty, and his marital status as single. On 5 June 1916, he embarked from Sydney aboard HMAT Borda with the 11th Machine Gun Company and proceeded overseas for active service. After further training in England, he was sent to France, where he served on the Western Front with his unit in support of infantry operations.
On 18 October 1917, while engaged in active service in France, Casey was severely wounded by a gunshot to the head. He was evacuated from the battlefield and transferred to England for specialist medical treatment, being admitted to Queen Mary’s Military Hospital at Whalley. His wound was assessed as serious, requiring prolonged hospitalisation and convalescence. Subsequent service records include references to a gunshot wound to the abdomen; however, there is no evidence of a separate abdominal wound sustained in action, and these later entries reflect medical classification or administrative notation rather than a second battlefield injury. Despite treatment, the severity of his war injuries resulted in lasting impairment, and he was deemed unfit for further active service. In early 1918, he was returned to Australia for discharge, arriving aboard the hospital ship Osterley. He was formally discharged from the Australian Imperial Force on 4 June 1918 as medically unfit, the result of his war-related injuries.
Private Clifford Henry Casey’s service was officially recognised during the war when he was Mentioned in Despatches, an honour announced in the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette in June 1917, acknowledging his distinguished and gallant service in the field.
Following his return to Australia, Clifford was recorded as living in Milton, Brisbane, throughout the 1920s and early 1930s, residing with his parents and working again as a bootmaker. After the deaths of his parents in 1935 and 1936, he moved to the Soldiers’ Rest Home at Coolangatta.
Private Clifford Henry died on 23 October 1946, aged 60, and was buried in Anzac Portion 7, Lutwyche Cemetery, Brisbane. He was a single man who never married and had no known children.
After decades without recognition at his place of burial, his grave now bears a plaque commemorating his service to Australia — ensuring his name endures among those remembered for their duty and sacrifice. His identity and dignity have now been restored.
We have remembered him.
Lest We Forget.
Click images to start slideshow.