LITCHFIELD, Cecil
| Service Number: | 2361 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 23 November 1915, West Maitland |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 31st Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 18 June 1895 |
| Home Town: | Singleton, Northumberland, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Natural causes, Narrabeen, New South Wales, Australia, 21 September 1991, aged 96 years |
| Cemetery: |
Woronora Memorial Park, Sutherland, New South Wales |
| Memorials: | Glen Oak Memorial Gates |
World War 1 Service
| 23 Nov 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2361, 31st Infantry Battalion, West Maitland | |
|---|---|---|
| 14 Mar 1916: | Involvement Private, 2361, 31st Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '16' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Anchises embarkation_ship_number: A68 public_note: '' | |
| 14 Mar 1916: | Embarked Private, 2361, 31st Infantry Battalion, HMAT Anchises, Melbourne | |
| 11 Oct 1917: | Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 2361, 31st Infantry Battalion, Third Ypres, Remus Wood, GSW left tibia - leg amputated at thigh on 19 October 1917. | |
| 18 Jan 1919: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 2361, 31st Infantry Battalion, HT Ulysses for return to Australia - arriving 4 March 1919. | |
| 4 Jan 1920: | Discharged AIF WW1, Private, 2361, 31st Infantry Battalion |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Michael Silver
Cecil Litchfield was one of four boys, amongst six surviving children of nine, born to Ernest Daniel Litchfield (1868-1916) and his wife Sarah Ann Heil (1870-1943) to serve in the Great War. The boys had, at times, a challenging childhood, with their mother suffering ongoing mental health issues due to the death of her first-born child at seven weeks and their father deserting the family in 1908. Much of their up-bringing was guided by the oldest surviving sibling, only sister Ethel (1891-1984).
Cecil Roy Litchfield, the second oldest brother, enlisted on 22 November 1915 just after the eldest, Lieutenant Ernest Norman Litchfield arrived home from Gallipoli having suffered horrific wounds at Lone Pine that resulted in the amputation of his right arm. Was it the dismay of seeing his brother so badly maimed that triggered Cecil to join-up or was it like so many – just seen as the right thing to do? Certainly, he would have known what he was getting into, or did he?
He listed his sister Ethel as his next of kin, noting his mother was at Kenmore Asylum and the whereabouts of his father unknown.
Cecil left for the war zone in March 1916 with reinforcements for the 31st Battalion. After two months in Egypt he embarked for England in June before undergoing a couple of months of training. In September 1916 he was sent to France and was pitched into the fighting on the Western Front. But like his eldest brother Ernest, it all come to a horrifying end when he was severely wounded in the left leg at Remus Wood, Belgium in October 1917.
The injuries to his lower leg were so severe that ultimately it was amputated at just above the knee. His recuperation was long and difficult, with extended stays in several hospitals in England. It wasn’t until March 1919 that he returned to Australia.
He married English born, Ivy Gladys Williams in 1927 and they were to have two children. Cecil worked as a telephone mechanic and the couple lived at Marrickville. For a period, his mother Sarah lived with them, before moving to reside with younger brother Aubrey in the 1930s. Ivy died in 1962. Cecil, ultimately, moved to live with his son at Strathfield later in life.
Cecil Roy Litchfield died on 21 September 1991 at Narrabeen at the grand age of 96.
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