ARMYTAGE, Clive Edward Thorpe
| Service Numbers: | 3753, N427279 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 20 October 1915, Holdsworthy |
| Last Rank: | Lance Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | Volunteer Defence Corps (NSW) |
| Born: | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 8 July 1895 |
| Home Town: | Strathfield, Strathfield, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Sydney Grammar School, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation: | Station Bookkeeper |
| Died: | Natural causes, Coonabarabran, New South Wales, Australia, 14 May 1984, aged 88 years |
| Cemetery: |
Privately Cremated |
| Memorials: | New South Wales Garden of Remembrance (Rookwood Necropolis), Sydney Grammar School WW1 Honour Board |
World War 1 Service
| 20 Oct 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, 3753, 20th Infantry Battalion, Holdsworthy | |
|---|---|---|
| 20 Jan 1916: | Involvement 3753, 20th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '13' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Runic embarkation_ship_number: A54 public_note: '' | |
| 20 Jan 1916: | Embarked 3753, 20th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Runic, Sydney | |
| 19 Aug 1916: | Promoted AIF WW1, Second Lieutenant, 20th Infantry Battalion | |
| 17 Sep 1916: | Wounded AIF WW1, Second Lieutenant, 20th Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières , GSW shoulder (mild) | |
| 19 Nov 1916: | Promoted AIF WW1, Lieutenant, 20th Infantry Battalion | |
| 14 Apr 1917: | Wounded AIF WW1, Lieutenant, 20th Infantry Battalion, Remained on duty | |
| 3 May 1917: | Wounded AIF WW1, Lieutenant, 20th Infantry Battalion, Bullecourt (Second), GSW left arm (severe) - left arm amputated | |
| 18 Jun 1917: | Honoured Military Cross, For conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty on morning of 15 April 1917 at Lagnicourt. He led his men with great gallantry and captured an enemy machine gun. He himself shot two of the enemy and captured two prisoners. | |
| 5 Nov 1917: | Embarked AIF WW1, Lieutenant, 20th Infantry Battalion, HT Themistoclers, England for invaliding to Australia - disembarking Sydney 3 January 1918 | |
| 11 Feb 1918: | Discharged AIF WW1, Lieutenant, 20th Infantry Battalion, Medically unfit |
World War 2 Service
| 9 Apr 1941: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Lance Sergeant, N427279, Volunteer Defence Corps (NSW) | |
|---|---|---|
| 9 Apr 1941: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Lance Sergeant, N427279, Volunteer Defence Corps (NSW) | |
| 30 Sep 1945: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Lance Sergeant, N427279, Volunteer Defence Corps (NSW) |
Help us honour Clive Edward Thorpe Armytage's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Michael Silver
Clive Edward Thorpe Armytage was a 20 year old station bookkeeper at his father's business in Sydney when he enlisted on 12 October 1915.
He embarked from Sydney on board HMAT A54 ‘Runic’ on 20 January 1916 with the 20th Battalion and disembarked Alexandria 26 February 1916. He arrived in France on 18 March 1916 and was first wounded in action with a gunshot wound to the shoulder on 17 September 1916. After treatment and recuperation in London, England he returned to his unit in France on 19 November 1916. He was wounded again on 15 April 1917 but remained on duty.
In March 1917 Clive led his platoon in the storming of a German machine-gun post at Lagnicourt on the Somme. He was awarded the Military Cross ‘For conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty. He led his men with great gallantry and captured an enemy machine gun. He himself shot two of the enemy and captured two prisoners’.
At dawn on 3 May 1917 at Bullecourt, Clive received a shot through his left elbow joint from a machine gun, resulting in his arm being amputated above the joint. Clive was left handed. He was admitted to the 14th General Hospital in Boulogne, France and then the 3rd London General Hospital on 8 September 1917. He departed for Australia 5 November 1917 on HMAT A32 ‘Themistocles’. Upon his return, he served as the Supply Officer at Holsworthy Internment Camp until a few weeks after the Armistice was declared.
Clive was awarded the Military Cross, British War Medal and Victory Medal.
After the war Clive drew a 1497-acre block he called "Kirriwa" in a land ballot at Tooraweenah, NSW, where he and his wife raised four children. His youngest son Tony took over the property and raised his family there after Clive's retirement. He died at Coonabarabran in 1984. The property remaining in family ownership until 2004.
Clive’s treasured WW1 memorabilia is on permanent loaned by the family, following Tony Armytage's Anzac Day address at Gilgandra in 1993, and is on display in the Clive Armytage Collection in the Coo-ee Gallery of the Gilgandra Heritage Centre. It was taken to Tooraweenah on Anzac Day 2016 to complement the presentation given by Jane Scurr, Clive’s granddaughter.
Source: Gilgandra & District World War 1 Diggers, https://www.gilgandradiggers.org.au/database?view=635
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