Clarence Fredrick Albury was born in Brisbane, Queensland in 1895 in Queensland; he was son to William and Ruth Jessie Albury. Clarence grew up in Brisbane Queensland and attended school at Nudge College in Brisbane where he studied to become a law clerk before enlisting in the Australian Imperial Forces (AIF). At the time of his enlistment in 1914 Clarence was 20 years of age; he had finished his schooling at Nudgee College and was working as a law clerk. Clarence was one of the twelve grandsons of James Josey who served in the First World War (Sutton, 2017).

Clarence enlisted on the 26th of August 1914 and embarked from Brisbane, Queensland on the 24th of September 1914 on board of the HMAT Omrah A5 ship with the 9th Infantry Battalion. The 9th Infantry Battalion was the first battalion with the 3rd brigade from the 1st Division of the war which was stationed in Enoggera, Queensland.  On enlistment Clarence was ranked as a private and attached to the 9th Infantry Battalion which played a part in the Gallipoli Campaign. During the campaign the Australian and New Zealand soldiers landed on the shores, where the British armies and their allies were attacked by a strong army of Turkish forces (AWM, 2017).