STIFF, Alexander Arthur Claude
| Service Number: | 2044 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 7 July 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Lance Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 17th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, 14 July 1894 |
| Home Town: | Sydney, City of Sydney, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | St Giles School, Cambridge, England |
| Occupation: | Sailor |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Belgium, 9 October 1917, aged 23 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Flanders, Belgium |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 7 Jul 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2044, 17th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 9 Aug 1915: | Involvement Private, 2044, 17th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '12' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Runic embarkation_ship_number: A54 public_note: '' | |
| 9 Aug 1915: | Embarked Private, 2044, 17th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Runic, Sydney | |
| 22 Mar 1917: | Promoted AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 17th Infantry Battalion | |
| 3 Apr 1917: | Honoured Military Medal |
Help us honour Alexander Arthur Claude Stiff's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Peter Rankin
He served under the alias of James Marsden.
Biography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Served as James Marsden in the AIF and may not have liked his real name, more probably he enlisted under an assumed name to avoid detection because he had in fact deserted from the Royal Australian Navy only three days before he enlisted in 1915, at Liverpool in Sydney. Able Bodied Seaman 3944 Alexander Arthur Claude Stiff had enlisted in the Australian Navy during August 1914, having previously served in the Royal Navy. He did a runner (deserted) the RAN on the 4 July 1915, enlisting in the AIF three days later as James Marsden, and telling the authorities he had served for 3 years in the Canadian Navy. Born on 14 July 1894, he had actually enlisted in the British Royal Navy on his 18th birthday in 1912. He was first listed as a deserter from the British Navy ship HMS Cambrian in Sydney during 1913, age 19.
He arrived at Gallipoli during October 1915 as a reinforcement for the 17th Battalion and served until the evacuation. Sent to France, he was wounded in action at Pozieres on 26 July 1916, most unfortunately a gunshot or shrapnel wound to the groin, and was evacuated to England two days later. He returned to France during September 1916 and was awarded a Military Medal “for conspicuous gallantry at Grevilles. During the period 12th/17th March 1917 he did excellent patrol work, and displayed great dash and daring, and brought back valuable information. On 16th March during daytime, he took a patrol of three men into the enemy's trench and went along it for 50 or 60 yards, until stopped by an enemy strong-point. He brought back his patrol and the information safely, under heavy machine-gun and sniping fire. This man has done excellent scouting the whole time the battalion has been in France."
Marsden was promoted to Lance Corporal and shortly after sent to hospital during April 1917 with an old GSW to left arm, apparently suffered during the March fighting. He proceeded back to France during September 1917, and shortly after was killed in action on the 9 October 1917.
His real name was confirmed by his sister after his death. He was the son of Fredrick Mortimer Stiff and Elizabeth Turner Stiff of Cambridge, England. His sister noted on his Roll of Honour form, "He left home at the age of 17 to join the British Navy, and we afterwards heard that he was in the Australian Navy, but we do not know what town he connected with chiefly, only Sydney, which he often mentioned."