Private Clarence Frederick Albury (124)
Clarence Frederick Albury (NAA, 2017)
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).
Clarence Fredrick Albury during war (NAA, 2017)
Over the following days and weeks thousands of Australian and New Zealand men died, until finally the evacuation of the Anzacs occurred on the 20th of December 1915. Clarence was one of the lucky soldiers who survived this deadly conflict; as 8,141 soldiers had been killed. However, the war was not over yet as the soldiers were sent to France to become part of the battles against the German allied forces; the many battles that took place included Pozieres and Somme. The soldiers suffered from many medical conditions due to lack of fresh water and the dirty conditions caused by water and mud in the trenches. This was the cause of Clarence’s rheumatism which led to his discharge from the war (AWM, 2017).
Clarence was discharged from the forces on the 3rd of November 1916 due to rheumatism, but had to remain in a convalescent hospital until the war was over and he could return home to his loved ones (Larkins, 2017). In 1967 Clarence died from natural causes at the age of 72.
Reference List
UNSW (2004-2016). Clarence Fredrick Albury. Available at: https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=2031[Accessed 20 Sep. 2017].
Australia.gov.au. (2017). Anzac Day | australia.gov.au. Available at: http://www.australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/anzac-day [Accessed 15 Jun. 2017].
Australian War Memorial (2017). Clarence Frederick Albury. Available at: https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1836993/ [Accessed 20 Sep. 2017].
Larkins, S. (2003). RSL Virtual War Memorial; Rslvirtualwarmemorial.org.au. Available at: https://rslvirtualwarmemorial.org.au/explore/campaigns/1 [Accessed 20 Sep. 2017].
Sutton, J. (2017). Discovering Anzacs: The Descendants of James Josey | Queensland's World War 1 Centenary. Blogs.slq.qld.gov.au. Available at: http://blogs.slq.qld.gov.au/ww1/2017/05/12/discovering-anzacs-the-anzac-descendants-of-james-josey/ [Accessed 20 Sep. 2017].