Clifford Leslie (Cliff) FARLOW

FARLOW, Clifford Leslie

Service Number: NX35756
Enlisted: 26 June 1940, Wagga Wagga, NSW
Last Rank: Corporal
Last Unit: 2nd/19th Infantry Battalion
Born: Leichhardt, New South Wales, Australia, 27 April 1922
Home Town: Hay, New South Wales
Schooling: Hay Public and War Memorial High Schools, New South Wales, Australia
Occupation: Farmer
Died: Hay, New South Wales, Australia, 12 September 2006, aged 84 years, cause of death not yet discovered
Cemetery: Hay General Cemetery, New South Wales, Australia
Memorials: Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial, Hay Water Tower Art Memorial
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World War 2 Service

26 Jun 1940: Enlisted Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Corporal, NX35756, 2nd/19th Infantry Battalion
26 Jun 1940: Enlisted Corporal, NX35756, 2nd/19th Infantry Battalion, Wagga Wagga, NSW
2 Feb 1941: Embarked Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Private, NX35756, 2nd/19th Infantry Battalion, Sydney per HMT Queen Mary
14 Sep 1941: Promoted Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Lance Corporal, 2nd/19th Infantry Battalion, B Coy
19 Jan 1942: Wounded Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Lance Corporal, NX35756, 2nd/19th Infantry Battalion, Malaya/Singapore
22 Jan 1942: Wounded Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Lance Corporal, NX35756, 2nd/19th Infantry Battalion, Malaya/Singapore, 2nd occasion
26 Jan 1942: Promoted Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Corporal, 2nd/19th Infantry Battalion, B Coy
16 Feb 1942: Imprisoned Malaya/Singapore
12 Sep 1944: Imprisoned survivor of the sinking of the Rokuyu Maru
18 Oct 1944: Embarked Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Corporal, NX35756, 2nd/19th Infantry Battalion, RTA disembarked Brisbane ex USS Monadnock
19 May 1945: Discharged Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Corporal, NX35756, 2nd/19th Infantry Battalion

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Biography contributed by Faithe Jones

Cliff Farlow was born on the 27th April 1922 and moved to Hay as a baby with his parents when they took up a block, Rosedale, on the Hay Irrigation Area to run a successful dairy. He attended the Hay Public and War Memorial High Schools.

He voluntarily enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on the 26th June 1940 at Wagga Wagga NSW, aged 18 years. He trained at Walgrove, Ingleburn and Bathurst NSW army camps before leaving Sydney for overseas service on the passenger liner RMS Queen Mary on the 4th February 1941. The Queen Mary had since been modified for the transport of troops and given the capacity of 16,000 men. She was fitted with small calibre guns but her greatest defence against enemy U-boats was her incredible speed.

After leaving Freemantle, the Queen Mary split from the main convoy in the Indian Ocean and sailed full steam for Singapore under the protective escort of a single warship. She docked in Singapore harbour on the 18th February 1941. Not long after Cliff’s embarkation, his unit boarded a northbound train for Seremban, Malaya, his first camp overseas.

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