GILLETT, Clifton Ronald
| Service Number: | 4051 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 21 October 1915, Blackboy Hill, WA |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 28th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Mount Gambier, South Australia, Australia, 18 January 1893 |
| Home Town: | Quairading, Quairading, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Mount Gambier High School |
| Occupation: | Salesman |
| Died: | At Home, Woodsome Street, Mount Lawley, Western Australia, Australia, 28 October 1936, aged 43 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Karrakatta Cemetery & Crematorium, Western Australia Anglican-Le-0701 |
| Memorials: | Mount Gambier High School Great War Roll of Honor, Mount Gambier St Andrew's Presbyterian Church Roll of Honor, Quairading War Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 21 Oct 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 4051, 28th Infantry Battalion, Blackboy Hill, WA | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Apr 1916: | Involvement Private, 4051, 28th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '16' embarkation_place: Fremantle embarkation_ship: HMAT Ulysses embarkation_ship_number: A38 public_note: '' | |
| 1 Apr 1916: | Embarked Private, 4051, 28th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ulysses, Fremantle |
Help us honour Clifton Ronald Gillett's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Faithe Jones
MR. C. R. GILLETT DEAD.
Former Agricultural Bank Official After an illness of about a year's duration, Mr. Clifford R. Gillett, for many years manager of the district office of the Agricultural Bank at Bunbury, died at his home, Woodsome-street, Mt. Lawley, on October 28, at the age of 43 years.
A native of South Australia, the late Mr. Gillett enlisted in Western Australia and served in France with the 28th Battalion, A.I.F. As a result of a serious wound late in 1917 he lost a leg. After the war he joined the staff of the Agricultural Bank, and served it mainly at Bunbury, where his duties gave him an insight into the group settlement question. For years he was prominent in the social life of Bunbury, particularly as secretary of the South-west Club. He was the first State country vice-president appointed by the Returned Soldiers' League; and for years he was president of the Bunbury sub-
branch of the league. In 1929 he organised a soldiers reunion which lasted a week and attracted ex-service men to Bunbury from all the States. Owing to ill-health he retired from the staff of the bank a year ago. He left a widow and three young daughters. There will be a private Interment today at Karrakatta Cemetery.
Biography contributed by Graeme Roulstone
4051 Clifton Ronald GILLETT was born in Mount Gambier on 18 January 1893. He was enrolled at Mount Gambier High School on 21 January 1907 by his father, Thomas Gillett, a coachbuilder, of Doughty Street, Mount Gambier. He left school on 13 June 1908 and left the district early in 1912 to join the staff of the Adelaide branch of the E.S. and A. Bank and was presented with a safety razor by the St Andrew’s Tennis Club (which he had captained for the previous two years) on his departure. He moved to Western Australia in 1913 to join his brother in business at Quairading.
He enlisted at Blackboy Hill, Western Australia, on 21 October 1915 (22, salesman, single, Church of England) naming his brother, Adrian Brown Gillett of Quairading, Western Australia, as his next of kin. He embarked from Fremantle on the ‘Ulysses’ on 1 April 1916. On 25 April 1916 he was promoted to the rank of Corporal. After arrival in England he was attached to a Training Battalion and qualified as a non-commissioned officer at a course of instruction at Tidsworth. On 16 November 1916 he was sent to France, reverting to the rank of private at this time. He joined the 28th Battalion on 14 February 1917 and was promoted to Lance Corporal on 31 March.
He was sent to England to an Officer’s Cadet Battalion in May 1917, promoted to second lieutenant on 1 September 1917 and sent back to France on 18 September. On 28 September 1917, the 28th Battalion camp at Reninghelst in Belgium was bombed by enemy planes, killing 3 and wounding 14, including Gillett (left hand and left leg, compound fracture tibia). He was evacuated to England on 10 October and in January 1918 his left leg was amputated. On 24 August 1918 he left England on the ‘City of Karachi’ for return to Australia, disembarking on 24 October 1918.
Published in Ours: the origins and early years of Mount Gambier High School and Old Scholars who served in the Great European War by Graeme Roulstone
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