DEARDEN, Clement Lovel
| Service Number: | 2127 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 12 April 1915, Townsville, Qld. |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 9th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Townsville, Qld., 26 November 1896 |
| Home Town: | Townsville, Townsville, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Engine Cleaner |
| Died: | Natural Causes, Queensland, 4 June 1982, aged 85 years |
| Cemetery: |
Woongarra Crematorium, Townsville, Qld Garden Niche Wall H A14 |
| Memorials: | City of Townsville WW1 Honour Roll, Townsville Railway Station Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 12 Apr 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2127, 9th Infantry Battalion, Townsville, Qld. | |
|---|---|---|
| 12 Jun 1915: | Involvement Private, 2127, 9th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '9' embarkation_place: Brisbane embarkation_ship: HMAT Karoola embarkation_ship_number: A63 public_note: '' | |
| 12 Jun 1915: | Embarked Private, 2127, 9th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Karoola, Brisbane |
Help us honour Clement Lovel Dearden's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Faithe Jones
Clement Lovel Dearden Junior was born on the 26th of November 1896, in Townsville, in the Colony of Queensland, to Clement Lovel Dearden Senior and Elizabeth Dearden. An engine cleaner by trade before he enlisted into the Australian Imperial Force shortly after his 18th birthday on the 12th of April 1915.
Deploying with the 9th Battalion, Clement left Australia on the 12th of June 1915 and arrived at the Gallipoli Peninsula on the 4th of August 1915, where he remained until the final evacuation. In early April 1916, he re-deployed to France, where he fought on the Western Front and earnt a Military Medal, in March 1917, his recommendation is as follows -
“Near LE BARQUE, FRANCE, on the 24/25th, February, 1917, Pte, DEARDEN continually carried despatches through heavy barrages during the advance, and brought valuable information. This man was, together with Pte. MARGERRISON, the sole connection between the front line and the control post, when the telephones became disconnected through shell fire.”
(Sgd) H. B. Walker.
Major General.
Commanding 1st. Australian Division.
After a stay in hospital in France and England, Clement was then deployed to Belgium in March 1918. He remained at the front in Belgium until the 30th of May 1918 when he was severely wounded in both legs. These wounds were that severe, Clement was medically discharged from the military and returned to Australia in September 1918.
Clement married Lyllian Frances Heath on the 17th of December 1924. There is no further information on Clement’s life, post his service in the Great War, except a notation made by his daughter in law Meredith about her father-in-law, for the article “Clement Lovel Dearden – Queensland’s Oldest Digger? November 1, 2016” –
“With the same grit and determination his father displayed, he eventually got out of his wheelchair and became a fireman in the railway, he always limped and was in pain for the rest of his life. I didn’t meet him until he was in his late 60s and can still see him rubbing his knees and grimacing in pain while teaching the grandkids how to play cards. He had chooks and a vegie garden in the back and kept us all in fresh vegies and eggs until his late 70s.”
Clement passed away on the 4th of June 1982, at the age of 85.
Courtesy of Samual Cox
References -
Clement Lovel Dearden - Queensland's Oldest Digger? | State Library of Queensland (slq.qld.gov.au)
Trove NLA Website
QLD BDM Website
NAA Website
Click images to start slideshow.