Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Clifton Watson John Miller was a South Australian man who fought in World War One. He fought in the 43rd Battalion, which was largely comprised of South Australians. Clifton was born in November of 1894 in Exeter, South Australia. It is likely that he was born in St Margaret’s hospital, pictured below, as it would have been the closest hospital to his family. He grew up in the town of Exeter, where he was born. Exeter is a suburb of Adelaide, near Port Adelaide, and is on the coast of South Australia. His level of education is unrecorded, therefore unknown. Before the war, Clifton was a storeman in his hometown, Exeter. As a storeman, he would be responsible for receiving the goods that would be delivered and stocking the shelves with them. He would have already had a level of fitness, as his job would have required him to have some strength. He enrolled to be an ANZAC soldier on the 3rd of April 1916. He was aged 21 years and 5 months when he enrolled. He enrolled himself as a single man, he had no wife or family as he was only 21 years old. Due to this, he listed his mother as his next of kin. Unfortunately, there was no information to be found on his father, so it is unknown what his relationship with him was like.

After enrolling in the war, it is likely he began training with his battalion. The 43rd Battalion and all South Australian soldiers did their training at the Morphettville Racecourse, in Morphettville SA. The training focused on many things needed for the war. Organizational skills, teamwork skills, fitness and warcraft skills were all taught. The men were split up into small groups and lived in tents together. These tents were a little unique, they were right and bell-shaped, pictured below right. These tents were inspected daily to make sure the soldiers were capable of keeping them clean and organised, and every day they would conduct an ‘emu bob’ or ‘emu parade’ to insure there was no rubbish or mess left on the ground. Their time to eat and converse was limited, and if they did not get everything ready and done, they simply would not get time to eat. That made it vital for them to learn how to work efficiently as a team to ensure they were able to survive, both in battle and out. Most of their training was in the spring of 1916, which brought hot and dusty days. They were woken every day at precisely 6 am by the bugler, which at Morphettville was Sergeant John Taylor. A team of soldiers handled catering, led by Sergeant John Parker, and provided soldiers were ready and organised, they often had time to eat breakfast together in the racetrack’s then-new grandstand. After breakfast, at 7:30 the soldiers and tents were inspected by the commanding officers to ensure that they were clean, organised and ready for another day of preparation for the battle to come. After a month or two, the group would have completed their training and advanced to England. Most of the Battalions went to England before going into battle to complete extra training and organise troops and numbers. The training in England was just as vital as Morphettville. This is because the weather conditions in England would better replicate those that the soldiers would face in battle, so it is likely they would do more environment-based exercises, like digging trenches and cold weather training. According to his records, Clifton spent around 5 months in England before joining the battle. In this time, he was reported to be absent without leave for thirty-one hours between midnight on the 30th of October 1916 to 6:36 am on the 1st of November. This means he left the camp or area to which he was constricted without permission. For his actions, he was given 4 days confined to his bunker, meaning he couldn’t leave and lost his pay for 2 days.

He was in hospital, sick with an unrecorded disease in mid-November 1916, but returned to his Battalion to continue training. On the 25th of November 1916, the 43rd Battalion including Clifton departed England and went to France to join the fight. He continued to fight in France, on the 21st of April 1917 he was promoted to lance corporal. As a lance corporal, he stayed in battle with his battalion until the 3rd of August 1917, when he was severely injured. According to the war diaries, there was heavy rain on that day at battle, so visibility would have been low and it would have been extra difficult to hit targets. He went to hospital, but the injuries were so severe that it meant he was unable to continue fighting, and after transferring to multiple hospitals in France and England, he returned to Australia on the 16th of February 1918.

There is very little information about what Clifton Miller did in the latter part of his life, as there are no records of what he did after the war, we do know though, that he returned to his hometown of Exeter. On the 17th of February 1966, 48 years after he returned from the war, aged 71, Clifton Watson John Miller passed away, in his hometown of Exeter, South Australia. He was buried in Centennial Park Cemetery, in southern South Australia, near Torrens Park.