Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Clement, known as ‘Clem’ was born in the town of Unley, to the south of Adelaide, on the 15th February 1904. His father was London-born William John and mother Esther Amelia Barnes, who married in Adelaide in October 1901. Clem’s older sister, Alvera Amelia was born in 1902. Clem’s grandparents were Emily Rachel and Josiah Tree-Barnes with Clem named Clement Francis Josiah, in honour of this grandfather. However, later at enlistment, Clem chose not to include this third name, Josiah.
Sadly, 30-year-old Esther died just ten months after Clem’s birth, on the 13th December 1904 and was buried in the West Terrace Cemetery. Then just days after his 15th birthday, Clem’s much-loved grandmother, 97-year-old Emily died in 1919.
Eliza Perry became a widow in August 1907 following the death of her 49-year-old husband George Edward. She had four children of her own, Eva, Vera, Irma and George and later became Clem’s foster mother. He became an integral part of the family and is remembered on Eliza’s headstone, following her death in August ’38.
Clem was eighteen when his father, William married a widow, Margaret Priscilla Saunders in December ‘23 with the two having three children, Myrtle, Wilfred and Queenie. Aged 57, William died on the 26th December ’32 and was buried in Cheltenham.
Bike riding was a common means of getting around in those years so became a close focus for police, resulting in quite heavy fines for what now seems like minor infringements. Clem was one of a number of bike riders caught without a tail-light in Sept ’36 and was fined 5/- with £1 costs.
With the outbreak of WWII and the Depression deepening, 36-year-old Clem, a labourer was an early enlistee on the 1st July ’40, being allocated the number SX7322 and placed in the newly formed 2/48th Battalion. His early days were spent in the pavilions at the now Royal Adelaide Showgrounds, before the new enlistees headed to Woodside in the Adelaide Hills for more intensive training, albeit without much equipment. Soon after he and his fiancée, Eileen Grace Whimpress, from Wasleys, quickly organised their marriage which was celebrated on the 10th August. (Eileen was the fourth child and second daughter of Ada and Alexander Whimpress.)
Following pre-embarkation leave, Clem sailed on the Stratheden on the 7th November, just a month after his wedding. He arrived in the Middle East on the 17th December where the heat, flies, dust and need to carry heavy equipment were all part of the daily routine. Annoying health conditions developed, including a hernia, sandfly fever and an eye infection of his cornea caused him to be hospitalised in a British-run facility. From there he returned to a Staging Camp at Amiriya before rejoining his battalion. Unfortunately, the ‘sandblasting’ effect of the desert sand caused his cornea to continue to deteriorate.
At this stage of the conflict, Clem and his fellow soldiers, were facing intensive fighting (and living) conditions. Attempting to destroy morale, the Germans designing a derogatory term for the Allied troops, taunting them for living like rats underground in their sandy dugouts. Instead, in typical Aussie style, the men proudly adopted the term, Rat of Tobruk, as a badge of honour and camaraderie. This was a term of which Clem and his fellow soldiers continued to be proud in the ensuing years, even post war.
Clem learned of the arrival of his first child, a son, Francis, born on the 20th November ‘41 whist he was serving in the Middle East. Later, a daughter, Elaine joined the family.
Unfortunately, the demands on his older body initially caused a knee injury which developed into painful arthritis. The physical demands of being an active soldier, carrying heavy equipment and facing long marches, eventually caused Clem to be assessed medically as being fit for duties that did not include active service with field formations. Resultantly, he then joined the Australian Depot Battalion in August ’42.
Unfortunately, on returning home via Freemantle, Western Australia, Clem and a Sergeant E. D. Jones were involved in a fracas on the narrow ‘catwalk’ between two rail carriages travelling from Perth to Northam, with Clem getting in several strikes. Suggestions were made that liquor or ‘mistaken identity’ were factors. Clem was arrested and faced a Court Martial at Keswick in January ‘43. Staff Sergeant SX6171 Harry Conder, of a similar age, who enlisted at the same time as Clem and was also initially allocated to the 2/48th serving in the Middle East, Palestine and Tobruk. He knew Clem had twice been an acting corporal, had a good reputation as a soldier and Harry had never seen him drunk.
Inevitably, Clem was found guilty of the serious charge of striking a superior officer, and poor conduct, but not of drunkenness. Two months of detention was ordered at the end of which Clem was granted leave and classified as medically unfit to serve. He was discharged on the 17th April ’43.
Aged 61, Clem, who had been living at Clarence Gardens, died on the 3rd June 1965. His remains were interred in Centennial Park Cemetery, General AF Path 13 Plot 665. Eileen died on the 16th March ’76 and now rests with Clem.
Researched and written by Kaye Lee, daughter of Bryan Holmes SX8133, 2/48th Battalion.