Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Clifford (Cliff) was born in Unley, SA on the 23rd October 1905. He was the second son and one of five children. His older brother, Kenneth John was also later to enlist to serve during WWII.
Aged 22, Cliff married Ella Bruce in 1928, with the two welcoming their first daughter, Betty in September. Cliff worked as a greengrocer, with his older brother working as a fruiterer. However, with the outbreak of WWII, 35-year-old Cliff was the first to enlist on the 29th June 1940, being placed in the newly formed 2/48th Battalion as SX6916. Following pre-embarkation leave spent with his family, he then boarded the Stratheden on the 7th November 1940 and arrived in the Middle East on the 17th December.
Just days after, 37-year-old Kenneth, also enlisted as SX15594, briefly being allocated to the 2/48th Battalion as part of the reinforcements, before being attached to the 2/4th Ordnance Store Company. Much of his service was then spent in the Northern Territory.
For Cliff, rather than the healthy diet and sanitary conditions he was used to back home, by July the following year he had three weeks recovering from a stomach infection. Over the following months he was fortunate to escape being injured, experiencing just an infected finger followed almost immediately by a bout of an extremely high temperature (Pyrexia of Unknown Origin) then by arthritis in September ’42.
Soon after, with rumours abounding about dates and time for the 2/48th Battalion to return to Australia, the men rejoiced with the announcement that this would occur at the start of February ’43. They were able to return to South Australia via Melbourne, for a brief respite and time with the family.
Training in Queensland followed, preparing the battalion for the tropical conditions they would experience in New Guinea against a very different enemy. Cliff left Cairns for Milne Bay, arriving on the 10th August ’43. Unfortunately, his stomach infection returned with inevitable time spent in hospital.
The physical demands of constantly carrying heavy equipment, especially for an older soldier, resulted in Cliff developing a painful back condition and a subsequent return to Brisbane in June ’44. He travelled back to South Australia with the diagnosis initially of rheumatic fever, then rheumatoid arthritis. Cliff spent time in the Kapara Convalescent Home. This was initially an elegant private home which was later sold to the Repatriation Department. By WWII, the Red Cross leased the home, providing dedicated support for returned soldiers who had a range of injuries causing them to be incapacitated. The setting at Glenelg also provided a measure of tranquility for those men.
Inevitably, Cliff’s diagnosis did not improve with him eventually being classified as having Multiple Periarticular Fibrositis, a specific form of very painful arthritis causing calcium to build in Cliff’s joints, resulting in stiffness and pain. He was officially discharged on the 1st May, ’45.
78-year-old Ella pre-deceased Cliff and died in December, ’86. Aged 91, Cliff died on the 24th June 1993 and was buried alongside Ella, in the Enfield Memorial Park Rose Garden site, bed CHR Site 16.
Tribute researched and written by Kaye Lee, daughter of Bryan Holmes, SX8133 2/48th Battalion.