LANG, Clifford Walter Patrick
| Service Number: | VX19663 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 21 March 1940 |
| Last Rank: | Lieutenant |
| Last Unit: | 2nd/2nd Pioneer Battalion |
| Born: | Mooltan, India, 2 July 1909 |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Dollar Academy, Dollar, Clackmannanshire, Scotland |
| Occupation: | Soldier |
| Died: | Presumed, Java, Netherlands East Indies, 4 March 1942, aged 32 years |
| Cemetery: |
Jakarta War Cemetery, Indonesia 6 C 5 |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour |
World War 2 Service
| 3 Sep 1939: | Involvement Lieutenant, VX19663 | |
|---|---|---|
| 21 Mar 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Lieutenant, VX19663, 2nd/2nd Pioneer Battalion | |
| 11 Jun 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, VX19663, 2nd/2nd Pioneer Battalion, Previous Service; Machine Gun Corps, Broadmeadows Service Number; V83234 | |
| 16 Jun 1940: | Involvement Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, VX19663, 2nd/2nd Pioneer Battalion, Taken on strength Redbank Reinforcement Depot, Ipswich (Queensland, Australia). | |
| 16 Jun 1940: | Involvement Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, VX19663, 2nd/2nd Pioneer Battalion, Taken on strength Redbank Reinforcement Depot, Ipswich (Queensland, Australia). | |
| 6 Jul 1940: | Involvement Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, VX19663, 2nd/2nd Pioneer Battalion, Posted from the 2/2 Pioneer Battalion to No.3 Australian Imperial Force, Shepperton (Victoria, Australia). | |
| 6 Jul 1940: | Promoted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Corporal, 2nd/2nd Pioneer Battalion, Promoted to Acting/Corporal. | |
| 18 Jul 1940: | Promoted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Sergeant, 2nd/2nd Pioneer Battalion, Promoted to Acting/Sergeant. | |
| 18 Mar 1941: | Involvement Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Sergeant, VX19663, 2nd/2nd Pioneer Battalion, Acting Sergeant. Evacuated to No.5 Casualty Clearing Station with mumps, Balcombe (Victoria, Australia). | |
| 27 Mar 1941: | Involvement Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Sergeant, VX19663, 2nd/2nd Pioneer Battalion, Acting Sergeant. Rejoined unit. | |
| 7 Apr 1941: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Sergeant, VX19663, 2nd/2nd Pioneer Battalion, Embarked from Sydney (Australia). | |
| 14 Apr 1941: | Promoted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Sergeant, 2nd/2nd Pioneer Battalion | |
| 5 Sep 1941: | Involvement Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Sergeant, VX19663, 2nd/2nd Pioneer Battalion, Evacuated to Australian Corps Rest Station, Palestine (Middle East). | |
| 27 Sep 1941: | Involvement Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Sergeant, VX19663, 2nd/2nd Pioneer Battalion, Evacuated to 2/3 Casualty Clearing Station with malaria, at Palestine (Middle East). | |
| 12 Oct 1941: | Involvement Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Sergeant, VX19663, 2nd/2nd Pioneer Battalion, Discharged and returned to unit. | |
| 12 Oct 1941: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Sergeant, VX19663, 2nd/2nd Pioneer Battalion, Embarked ME ‘SS Orcades’ (British ocean liner). | |
| 1 Mar 1942: | Promoted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Lieutenant, 2nd/2nd Pioneer Battalion | |
| 17 Mar 1942: | Involvement Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Lieutenant, VX19663, 2nd/2nd Pioneer Battalion, Disembarked Batavia, Jakarta (Indonesia). | |
| 11 Oct 1942: | Transferred Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Lieutenant, 2nd/2nd Pioneer Battalion, Transferred from 2/2 Pioneer Battalion to the Patrol Submarine Hunters, Java (Indonesia). | |
| 30 May 1945: | Involvement Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Lieutenant, VX19663, 2nd/2nd Pioneer Battalion, Director of Civil Lines, reported missing, believed to be died of wounds, Java (Indonesia), no date given. | |
| 1 Jun 1945: | Involvement Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Lieutenant, VX19663, 2nd/2nd Pioneer Battalion, Land Headquarters 2 Echelon, previously reported as missing, now believed as died of wounds, Java. His last known unit was Patrol Submarine Hunters, Java (Indonesia) in 1942. | |
| 4 Mar 1946: | Involvement Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Lieutenant, VX19663, 2nd/2nd Pioneer Battalion, Land Headquarters 2 Echelon, became missing and for official purposes presumed to be dead. |
Help us honour Clifford Walter Patrick Lang's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Hamish Robson
Australian Rugby Union Representative
Wallaby # 318 2 Caps
Date of Birth; July 2, 1909
Place of Birth; Multan, India (now Pakistan)
School; Dollar Academy, Dollar, Clackmannanshire, (Scotland)
Province; VIC
Position; Front row forward
Debut Club; Footscray (Melbourne)
Other Club; Bedford (ENG)
Debut Test Match; 1938 Wallabies v New Zealand, 2nd Test Brisbane
Final Test Match; 1938 Wallabies v New Zealand, 3rd Test Sydney
Died; March 4, 1942
Service Number; VX19663
Biography
Cliff Lang was a well travelled tight forward who rose to national honours from Victoria in the late 1930s only to lose his life in World War II.
Born in Multan, India, but now part of Pakistan, Lang was educated in the U.K., at the Dollar Academy in central Scotland.
Lang played club rugby with Bedford in England before he migrated to Australia in 1927 where he settled in Melbourne. He joined the Harlequins club then entered the army and switched his allegiances to Footscray. A most consistent rucker and a more than handy goal-kicker, Lang, at 6ft 2in and 14 st., did not make his state debut until 1931 however he went on to play in every Victorian side for the next six years. Lang forged such a strong reputation over that period that Victorians considered him one of the finest forwards in Australia.
A strong performance against the touring Springboks in 1937 where he was 'conspicuous in the tight and the loose as well as the line-outs’ pushed his name into the frame for national selection however luck was not on his side. The following year Australia suffered a one-sided, 9-24 defeat in the first Test against New Zealand. As a consequence the Wallaby selectors make seven changes for Brisbane and Lang came into the side on debut where he ‘made a fine impression’.
In 1939 Lang was named vice captain for The Rest in the final Second Wallabies tour trial match against Australia. Unfortunately he suffered a possible shoulder fracture in the preceding interstate matches and was forced to withdraw from the fixture. Whether that proved decisive in the final analysis remains unknown however Lang went on to be described as an 'unfortunate omission' from the 29-man touring party.
During the war Lang enlisted in the 7th Division of the Second Australian Imperial Force where he rose to the rank of Lieutenant. Mobilised to Batavia with the 2nd Pioneer Battalion, Lang was reported missing, believed to have died from wounds in March 1942. He was posthumously awarded the 1939/45 Star, the Pacific Star, The Defence Medal, the War Medal and the Australian Service Medal.
Click images to start slideshow.