RANFORD , Clem Lidsan
| Service Number: | 954 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 28 November 1914, Adelaide, South Australia |
| Last Rank: | Lance Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 3rd Light Horse Regiment |
| Born: | Semaphore, South Australia, 15 March 1898 |
| Home Town: | Semaphore, Port Adelaide Enfield, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Le Fevre Peninsula School, South Australia |
| Occupation: | Clerk |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Palestine, 31 October 1917, aged 19 years |
| Cemetery: |
Beersheba War Cemetery Row C, Grave No. 36, |
| Memorials: | Adelaide National War Memorial, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 28 Nov 1914: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 954, 3rd Light Horse Regiment, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '1' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Port Lincoln embarkation_ship_number: A17 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 28 Nov 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 954, Adelaide, South Australia | |
| 1 Apr 1915: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 954, 3rd Light Horse Regiment, HMAT Port Lincoln, Adelaide | |
| 6 Aug 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Trooper, 954, 3rd Light Horse Regiment, ANZAC / Gallipoli | |
| 31 Oct 1917: | Involvement AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 954, 3rd Light Horse Regiment, Battle of Beersheba, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 954 awm_unit: 3rd Australian Light Horse Regiment awm_rank: Lance Corporal awm_died_date: 1917-10-31 |
ANZACS IN PALESTINE.
Express and Telegraph (Adelaide, SA: 1867 - 1922), Tuesday 2 October 1917, page 4
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ANZACS IN PALESTINE.
Mr. A. T. Saunders sends the following copy of a letter written by one of his nephews, Clem Ranford, of the Semaphore, who enlisted in November, 1914, then a boy 17 years old, and sailed on April 1, 1915, served some months at Gallipoli, and is now in Palestine:—''Palestine, July 22, 1917—You were writing about one of our lieutenants in the Flying Corps winning the Military Cross. Well, he rose from the ranks and was our regimental sergeant-major on the peninsula, and he is a fine chap and a great pal of Roy and Jack Howard (sons of Mr. F. C. Howard, of Adelaide, and both heroes of Gallipoli). His name is Ross Smith. I knew him well. We have left our 'bonzer' camp on the beach and are back in the front line again doing our bit, which is not such a soft job as some rotters think it is. There have been some very misleading letters in Adelaide papers about our front. The: asses who write them have never been in Egypt for long, and most certainly have never been out here, as is proved by the stupid things they write, such as the statement of one of them that the soldiers from the front can get week-end leave to Cairo, for they can reach Cairo in between breakfast and dinner, which is absurd. 'For one thing, leave is so hard to get that some of the chaps have been fighting here 12 months and have not been to Cairo once, and as for travelling to Cairo in the time this person states, that is wrong. Going in the fastest train, it takes 12 hours and over to get to — and thence to Cairo, another five or 17 hours in all, without counting the wait when you change trains and walk across the Canal, for there is no train across the Canal, as this gentleman makes out. He also said that the troops get ample butter and eggs, which is untrue, for all the butter or eggs we have had a pigeon could carry, and that means none. Your parcels of food are Godsends to us all. I wish I could write; I would like to stir the mud out of some of these silly, mad, irresponsible goats, for they write on things that they know absolutely nothing about and worst of all, cause the ignorant people to use cutting remarks, and get them into hot water. Things are pretty quiet here, but, of course, we have still to worry the Turk and keep him busy, but otherwise we (himself and his brother Gordon) are both well, and still going strong."
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article209771087
Submitted 3 August 2016 by Al Staunton
Biography contributed by Elizabeth Allen
Clem Ledsam RANFORD was born at Semaphore, South Australia on 15th March, 1898
His parents were Joseph RANFORD and Florence Mary Nightingale SAUNDERS
Clem was Killed in Action on 31st October, 1917 - he was awarded the 1914-15 Star, British War Medal & Victory Medal
His name is memorialised on the Australian War Memorial & the Diggers Honour Board in Semaphore, Port Adelaide.
His brothers also served in WW1 - Joseph Marmion RANFORD (SN183) 3rd Light Horse Regiment was also Killed in Action on 4th August, 1916 and another brother Herbert Gordon Maxwell RANFORD (SN3183) 3rd Light Horse Regiment returned to Australia in 1919
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Trove article - the Observer Adelaide, 10th November 1917 page 39
A cablegram was received on Monday from Trooper Gordon Ranford, Light Horse, son of Mr. & Mrs Joseph Ranford, Paxton St Semaphore saying that his brother Trooper Clem Ranford of the same unit had been instantly killed in one of the recent Palestine battles. Clem was not 17 years old when he enlisted more than two years ago , he landed in Gallipoli and served there until the evacuation. His elder brother Joseph Marmion Ranford also of the Ligh Horse was one of the first to enlist. He landed on Gallipoli on May 9, 1915 & served until the following October and was sent to Malta sick, and was killed in Egypt The late Clem Ranford was employed by D & J Fowles Ltd at Port Adelaide where he enlisted.
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Letter from Clem to his parents (see link for more information)
The Beach Mediterranean, Palestine
1st September, 1917
My dear old Mother and Dad
Your ever loving & welcome letters and parcels to hand which latter were in perfect order and we had a lovely party I can assure you, and the papers & books were very acceptable
I wish you would post the "Nash Pall Mall" magazine to me every month for it has a few short yarns in it to read, in the tiny bits of spare time we have now & again
Well my dears, we are still on the beach of Palestine enjoying our bathes. I have not had my boots on for about 10 days now but have been walking about with just a pair of short knickers on and sometimes a shirt, and somtimes not anything, especially washing days, for we wash fairly often back here to get some of the grime off before we go back to the dust and mud where they are lucky if they do get a wash once all the time we are there on account of old time
But I was going to say that the going without boots reminds me of the dear old Semaphore and Christmas Holidays
We still have plenty to do though we do not get any night work, for there is the saddlery to clean and do up while we are back here and we have plenty of drill and rifle "jirks" which get on the chaps nerves for the same old things has been chewed over and over for the last 3 years and gets very sickening to us though we do not care much, so long as they leave us here till we pick up a bit after last 6 weeks of heavy work riding day & night
It knocks "fog" out of a chap going without sleep, water and food for times we do, and the picnics we have are not too enjoyable, or not as enjoyable as the papers say.
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