Thomas Clifford

Submitted by wollongongcityl... on Wed, 18/06/2014 - 11:29

First Name:

Thomas

Last Name:

Clifford

Alternate Spelling:

Tom

Date of Birth:

Sunday, July 19, 1896

Mother's Name:

Mary Clifford

Father's Name:

Joseph Clifford

Date Enlisted:

Thursday, July 12, 1917

Rank at Enlistment:

Private

Rank at Discharge:

Private

Unit:

35th Battalion

Service:

Infantry

Awards:

British War Medal

Victory Medal

Date of Death:

Saturday, May 28, 1977

Place of Death:

Concord Repatriation General Hospital, Sydney

Details:

Thomas Clifford (Service No 3275), was born on 19 July 1896 to Joseph and Mary Clifford in Dapto, N.S.W.

Prior to the war, Thomas worked as a fisherman.

Like his older brother Edward Clifford, Thomas enlisted on 12 July 1917 at the age of 21. According to the Illawarra Mercury the people of Dapto presented him with a pocket wallet and a packet of linen-back playing cards on his final week.

Thomas embarked from Sydney on 2 August 1917. That same month he fell ill with influenza whilst at sea. He was discharged from hospital on 11 August 1918.

Thomas returned to Australia on 3 April 1919 receiving the British War and Victory medals.

In 1933, he married Ellen Doris Schofield in Paddington, N.S.W. and together they had a son Maxwell Edward Clifford, who sadly died at the age of three.

Thomas also served in World War Two in the 2^nd Garrison Battalion.

Thomas Clifford died at the Concord Repatriation General Hospital, Sydney, N.S.W., on 28 May 1977 and is buried at West Dapto Catholic Cemetery, West Dapto, N.S.W.

Sources:

AWM, First World War Embarkation Roll- Thomas Clifford, Australian War Memorial Canberra, 2014, http://www.awm.gov.au/people/rolls/R1871268/, viewed 18 June 2014.

Hill, Wayne, Inscription for Thomas Clifford, n.d, Australian Cemetery Index, 2014, http://austcemindex.com/inscription.php?id=6386338, viewed 18 June 2014.

‘Dapto’, Illawarra Mercury, 6 July 1917, p.2.

NAA: B2455, CLIFFORD T