WALL, Clifford Arnold
| Service Numbers: | 6340, 6340A |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 30 March 1916, Adelaide, South Australia |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 27th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Wandearah, South Australia, 15 August 1894 |
| Home Town: | Wandearah, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Wandearah Public School, South Australia |
| Occupation: | Farmer |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 2 September 1918, aged 24 years |
| Cemetery: |
Peronne Communal Cemetery Extension III C 15 |
| Memorials: | Adelaide National War Memorial, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Wandearah East Broughton Plains Region War Memorial, Wandearah West Memorial and Flagpole, Wandearah West Memorial and Flagpole |
World War 1 Service
| 30 Mar 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 6340, Adelaide, South Australia | |
|---|---|---|
| 28 Aug 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 6340, 10th Infantry Battalion, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '10' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Anchises embarkation_ship_number: A68 public_note: '' | |
| 28 Aug 1916: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 6340, 10th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Anchises, Adelaide | |
| 2 Sep 1918: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 6340A, 27th Infantry Battalion, Mont St Quentin / Peronne, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 6340A awm_unit: 27 Battalion awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1918-09-02 |
A Wandearah farm lad
Born and raised at Wandearah, South Australia, where his parent's had pioneered a grain farm, he was the last born of their thirteen children, of whom nine survived to adulthood. As the 'baby' in this large family, Cliff always had plenty of activity in his childhood. Sunday church was never missed, as his father was a very pious man. Attending the Wandearah school, as a teenager he joined the Port Pirie CMF unit in the Light Horse, serving nearly three years. In the meantime he worked large draught horse teams pulling implements on his parents farm. Cliff was a light-hearted lad, well known among the family for his love of practical jokes. The young girls all adored Cliff.
At the age of 21 Cliff enlisted in the AIF at Adelaide on 30 March 1916, training at Morphettville and Mitcham camps. Assigned to reinforcements for the 27th battalion, Cliff sailed for England in August 1916. After further training there, he arrived at the Western Front in France in December 1916. During the next eighteen months he was in and out of battle, being shelled, gassed, shot in the leg, then gassed again. In January 1918 he was granted leave in England, where he visited distant relatives at London and Ipswich.
Returning to the war, he was engaged in the final battles. When pursuing the retreating Germans through open fields near Peronne he was killed by an allied bombardment which fell short. Hurriedly buried where he fell, he was later exhumed and reburied by the War Graves Commission. Aged 24, he had never married. WWI ended just nine weeks later.
Submitted 24 November 2014 by max slee
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