Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Clarence GALLOWAY, (Service Number 2916) was born in Taree, NSW, on 3 March 1894. Subsequently his family moved to Merewether in Newcastle, NSW, and he went to Newcastle Collegiate School. His parents were Scott Johnson Galloway and Catherine Elizabeth Galloway.
On 14 February 1914 he joined the NSWGR&T as a junior clerk in the Locomotive Branch at Hamilton. On 4 December 1915 he was appointed to the grade of clerk in the Locomotive Branch and was sent to Armidale. He was transferred to Werris Creek at the same grade on 18 May 1916 and on 9 October 1916 he was released to join the Expeditionary Forces.

On 31 March 1918 he was killed in action. Depositions in Clarence’s Red Cross Enquiry File describe what happened. He was in his billet, a stone barn, at Cachy near Villers-Bretonneux when the building was hit by a shell, killing him and several others instantly. His grave is in Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France.

Clarence Galloway was the third and last child born to Scott Galloway and his wife Catherine nee Campbell. He was born in Taree in 1894 but shortly afterwards the family moved to Merewether in the city of Newcastle. He was educated in the Newcastle Collegiate School and later Clarence joined the NSW Railways where he served as a clerk in the Railways Locomotive section.

On 28 September 1916 he enlisted at the age of 22 in the 34th Battalion which was called "Maitland's Own". He had already spent three years in the 16th Infantry Militia which was based in Newcastle and indeed was in the cadets at school so he had some experience of the military.

Two months later, he left Sydney on the Beltana and arrived in England on 29 January 1917. After six months training in England, he was shipped across to France on 2 March 1917. He was appointed corporal in September and was wounded in action on 16 October 1917. October had been a month of heavy casualties for the 34th Battalion with almost all of the officers killed on the one day - 11 October. After a stay in hospital, he rejoined his unit on 14 November 1917.

On 30 November, Clarence's wounding was included in the casualty list number 355 and on the same day Miss Chrissie Peters of St. Peters in Sydney wrote to the army to find out greater details of his wounds but was sent a reply by the army saying it was probably not serious and he was progressing well.
In December 1917, Clarence spent some time being trained and he spent two weeks on leave in England, returning to the front on 13 March 1918 and two weeks later on 31 March 1918 he was killed.

His unit had just come out of the line just to the right of Villiers-Bretonneux and during the day of 31 March the Germans commenced shelling the surrounding villages. The billet that Clarence was in was hit and Clarence and seven others were killed in the blast. They were buried in an orchard next to the town of Cachy. Later they were disinterred and reburied in the Australian War Cemetery in Villiers-Bretonneux. Clarence is in grave II. B. 6 and some of his relatives have planted rosemary grown in Australia on his grave, hoping it will grow and remind others that he is not forgotten.

He was unofficially engaged to Miss Dorothy Brinkworth. The family lore says that they met while working at the Victoria Theatre in Newcastle.

The death hit his family hard. In 1921, his parents' house was called Clarence and his sister had a large photo of him hanging in the hall of her house. Dot Brinkworth was also hit hard and on the anniversary of his death would place "In Memoriam" notices in the Newcastle papers. She, also frequently visited Clarence's mother for many years.