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 “C” Company, 32nd Battalion, Australian Infantry, A.I.F. Died Thursday 20 July 1916. Aged 28. Son of Susan Judge (née Walter) of “Braemar,” Goudhurst Road, Marden, Kent, and of the late Alfred William Judge.

At the time of the 1901 census, Clarence resided at the home of his uncle William E. Brooker at Marden Thorne, Kent. 58 year old native of Staplehurst, Kent. William was the head of the house; he was recorded by the census enumerator as being a Grocer and Farmer, and was the employer of staff including 13 year old Grocer's Apprentice, Clarence. When Clarence enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on Monday 19 June 1915, he stated that he was employed as a Grocer, and that he was formerly been apprenticed to W.E. Brooker of Marden, Kent. On being asked if he had ever been rejected for service in any of His Majesty's Forces, he stated that he had been, on account of his height. Clarence sailed from Adelaide, South Australia on board H.M.A.T. Geelong (A2) on Thursday 18 November 1915, and disembarked at Suez, Egypt on Saturday 18 December 1915. On the completion of his service in Egypt, Clarence embarked with his battalion at Alexandria, Egypt to join the British Expeditionary Force, on Saturday 17 June 1916; he disembarked at Marseilles, France on Friday 23 June 1916. Following his death, Clarence was initially posted as ‘Missing,’ but as the result of the following Certified Statement by Private, 334 L. J. Western which he gave on Thursday 12 April 1917, stating that Clarence had succumbed to wounds; Clarence was then to be reported as 'Killed in Action, 20 July 1916.' The Red Cross File No. 1470703, appertaining to Clarence’s death is as follows:- “334 Pte L.J. WESTERN, D Company, 8th Bn, 5 January 1917: 'On retiring from the German trenches in the Fromelles region on the morning of July 20th 1916 [1078] Pte [G.S.] Gibney and myself passed over the German front line together and we just exchanged the usual greetings "Good-day" although it was a rotten day, by the way. When about in the middle of "No Man's Land" I got a bullet so dropped into a shell hole and went to sleep for about five hours. When I awoke at what I judged to be about -- a.m. I heard someone calling in agonized tones "For God's sake give me some water!" On looking along the water gutter leading to the shell hole, I saw my friend Guy Gibney and another fellow, so having about half a dozen mouths full of water in my bottle, I crawled to them and gave them a sip ach, at least shared it between them. His mate was Pte C.J. (sic) Judge. Gibney was badly wounded in the upper part of the legs and chest by shrapnel I should say, while Judge was wounded in the shin part of the left leg also body. After I gave them water, barely more than two mouthfuls each, they became quiet and to a casual onlooker apparently asleep, but I regret to say, they succumbed to their wounds. About eighteen hours after I got hit I crawled into our own lines, under cover of darkness. ”When Clarence’s affairs were eventually settled in London on 14 July 1931, they revealed that prior to enlisting in the Australian Imperial Force during the Great War; he had resided at “St. Ives,” Irwin Street, Perth, Western Australia. The relevant documentation also showed that he had been amongst the members of his battalion who had fallen at Fromelles, Nord, France on Thursday 20 July 1916. On the morning of Wednesday 19 July 1916, after a preliminary bombardment, two infantry divisions which had only recently arrived on the Western Front; the 5th Australian and 61st (South Midland) Divisions undertook what is officially known as the ‘Attack at Fromelles.’ They attacked a 4,000 yard section of the German frontline centered on a notorious strongpoint called the Sugar Loaf. Advancing over unfavourable ground, in clear view of resolute and expectant defenders, the attackerattackers suffered terrible casualties in a matter of minutes. The action turned into a bloody catastrophe, and the Australians had over 5,500 killed, wounded and missing. The 61st Division reported over 1,500 officers and other ranks killed, wounded and missing, out of 3,400 who took part in the attack. The Australian left and centre reached the German trenches and held their second line during the day and night, but the right was held off by a fierce machine-gun barrage and only reached the front line in isolated groups. The action was broken off on the morning of Thursday 20 July, after the 5th Australian Division had lost over 5,500 officers and men. It was the first serious engagement of the Australian forces in France, and the only one to achieve no success. V.C. Corner Cemetery was made after the Armistice. It contains the graves of 410 Australian soldiers who died in the ‘Attack at Fromelles’ and whose bodies were found on the battlefield, but not a single body could be identified. It was therefore decided not to mark the individual graves, but to record on a memorial the names of all the Australian soldiers who were killed in the engagement and whose graves were not known. V.C. Corner Cemetery is one of two Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries at the village of Fromelles. Completed in July 2010, and officially dedicated on 19 July 2010, Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery is the first new war cemetery to be built by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in fifty years. The cemetery contains 250 Australian and British soldiers, whose remains were recovered in 2009 from a number of mass graves located behind nearby Pheasant Wood, where they had been buried by the Germans following the disastrous ‘Attack at Fromelles’ on Wednesday 19 and Thursday 20 July 1916. Unlike V.C. Corner Cemetery, at the village of Fromelles, (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery has 97 of the casualties who are at rest there that have been identified. No tactical advantages resulted from the action and it remains the worst day in Australian military history. 

Arrived in Australia aged 25 Years

Address at the time of enlistment was Lord Street, Perth, WA

Son of Alfred William Judge and Sarah Judge of Goudhurst Road, Marden, Kent, England; brother of Walter Guy Judge who fell on 23 March 1918 while serving with the 16th Cheshire Regiment(British Army) and has no known grave and his name appears on the Pozieres Memorial Panels 35 and 36

Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal

 His brother, Corporal Walter Guy Judge, aged 32, Service Number 51350, also fell; he was serving with the 16th Battalion, Cheshire Regiment. Attached 12th Entrenching Battalion, Cheshire Regiment. Formerly (S/27162) Army Service Corps (ASC). He died 23rd March 1918. Born Goudhurst. Enlisted Chatham. He is commemorated on the Pozieres Memorial, Somme, France.

 
They were sons  of Alfred William and Susan Judge of Goudhurst Road, Marden, Kent. The brothers are remembered on the Marden War Memorial located in St Michael and All Saints Church, Marden. The memorials are in the form of wall mounted alabaster tablets.