Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Clem Steicke
Born in Renmark South Australia 17 November 1920 the twin son of Ernest (Jack) & Anna Steicke confirmed in the Lutheran church at Coonalpyn by Pastor Hanson in 1936.
Married Doris Reynolds in the Cleve Methodist church in Cleve in 1955 we have 2 daughters Suzanne & Denise.
Started school at a place called Nadia its just a small place near Swan Reach on the Murray river in South Australia, he went to grade 2 at Nadia then his father purchased a scrub block at Coonalpyn this is where they stayed until he left school. They traveled from Nadia to Coonalpyn in a wagon & dray which carried the furniture& belongings, the trip took 14 days they slept under the dray. The family lived in a tent for the 1st year while they built a small wooden & tin shed then later added rooms built of stone.
Clem left home at the age of 17 & worked for farmers milking cows earning 10 shilling's a week with board & keep, his wage was 25 shilling when I left in 1940.
Late in 1940 Clem joined the navy he completed his training at Flinders Naval base & was drafted to the HMAS Rockhampton then to the HMAS Hobart in which he saw active service in the Pacific until the ship was torpedoed on 20th July 1943 while en route to Espiritu Santo in Vanuatu as part of task force 74 it took 12 months to repair the ship in Sydney the ship was back in service in December 1943.
The Hobart then joined the American seventh fleet which we covered many landings including Tarakan & Balikapapan in Borneo then Cebu in the Phillipines.
HMAS HOBART was in Subic Bay in the Manilla when the Japanese surrendered they sailed into Tokyo Bay to represent the Australian fleet for the signing of the peace.
Clem left the navy in 1946 and took a course in bricklaying he was working for S Weir in 1954 when we were sent to Pt. Lincoln to build the hospital where I met his wife Doris, he worked as a bricklayer until 1970 then started working as a plant operator at Wallaroo fertilizer until my retirement at age 65.