CARMAN, Clement Claude
| Service Number: | 521 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 20 February 1915, Adelaide, South Australia |
| Last Rank: | Lance Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 27th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Keilli, South Australia, 13 April 1895 |
| Home Town: | Port Broughton, Barunga West, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Wards Hill Public School |
| Occupation: | Farmer |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Flers, France, 5 November 1916, aged 21 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" No known grave - Commemorated on a family grave at Dudley Park Cemetery, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Adelaide National War Memorial, Alford District of Ninnes Honour Board, Alford War Memorial, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Bute District Council WW1 Roll of Honor, Bute War Memorial Garden, Port Broughton War Memorial, Tickera War Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial (Australian National Memorial - France) |
World War 1 Service
| 20 Feb 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 521, Adelaide, South Australia | |
|---|---|---|
| 31 May 1915: |
Involvement
AIF WW1, Private, 521, 27th Infantry Battalion, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, embarkation_roll: roll_number: 15 embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Geelong embarkation_ship_number: A2 public_note: |
|
| 31 May 1915: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 521, 27th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Geelong, Adelaide | |
| 4 Sep 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 521, 27th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli | |
| 23 Jul 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 521, 27th Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières | |
| 5 Nov 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 521, 27th Infantry Battalion, 'The Winter Offensive' - Flers/Gueudecourt winter of 1916/17 |
The other brother and sister
This was not the end of the Carman family's involvement in war with two more members going to the second world war. Ruby Adelaide Carman nee Catchlove went to the Middle East as a nurse and my father Kenneth John Carman (Jack) to Papua New Guinea as a mechanic both fortunately returned.
Submitted 4 April 2015 by Liz Penfold
Biography contributed by Liz Penfold
521 Lance Corporal Clement Claude Carman, 27th Battalion, was serving with the 27th Battalion from enlistment, having seen service at ANZAC and then at Pozieres and Mouquet Farm. After some respite in late September into October the Battalion returned to the Somme area and on 5 November near Flers the 27th once again went into action. Clement was declared missing in the action at Flers on 5 November 1916. His body was not recovered. He was 21 years old. He like many other 27th Battalion casualties that day, has no known grave
His oldest brother 5063 Pte Roland Clarence Carman (/explore/people/1653), 23 years old of the 10th Battalion, was killed in action near Bapaume as part of the Second Bullecourt action on 8 April 1917. 2646 Private David William Carman (/explore/people/1650), 19 years old, of the 50th Battalion, was killed on the 25th April 1918 in the attack that re-captured Villers Brettoneux.
Neither Clement nor Roland have a known grave. They are commemorated on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, France. David is buried at Hangar Wood Communal Extension cemetery.
The three brothers are commemorated on a family headstone at the Dudley Park Cemetery in Adelaide (see photo). Their Commemorative plaques (or Dead Man’s Pennies) awarded to the family distinguish the memorial but would have provided scant solace for a loss so profound it is difficult to imagine the family recovering from the grief that must have overtaken them. That the parents died relatively soon after this family tragedy is perhaps hardly surprising.
The three brothers were my uncles and their youngest brother SX9984 Cpl. Kenneth John Carman (/explore/people/599336) was my father. He and a sister Ruby should also be mentioned as they served in the second world war. I was named Elizabeth after their mother who with her husband David lived to see two more of their family go overseas to war. At least they came back. It is a part of their story that should in my view be included with that of the three brothers who were killed. As a mother I do not know how the parents, Elizabeth and David could have survived such grief and then have to watch two more children go away and live on through a second war.
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