Ernest Clifford

Memorial: South Gloucestershire war dead not on a local memorial

Regiment: Gloucestershire Regiment

Medals: 1914–15 Star, British War Medal, Next of Kin Memorial Plaque 1914 - 1921, Silver War Badge, Victory Medal

Rank and number: Lance Corporal 2343

Parents: Frederick and Emily Clifford

Home address: 4, Brook Road, St. George, Bristol

Date of birth: 09/07/1893

Place of birth: Downend, Bristol

Date of death: 28/05/1915

Buried/Commemorated at: Buried at Lancashire Cottage Cemetery, Hainaut, Belgium. Nor commemorated on a local memorial.

Age: 22

Further information:

Ernest was born in Downend, Bristol the son of a labourer and a middle child of seven children, with six brothers and a sister. One of his younger brothers, Albert, was killed a year after Ernest in 1916, also in the service of his country.

Ernest's battalion (the 1st/6th, Glosters) mobilised for war and landed at Boulogne at the end of March 1915 where the formation became the 144th Brigade of the 48th Division. Ernest was killed in action two months after arriving in France, during the Second Battle of Ypres (22 April - 25 May 1915) which began with the first mass use of poison gas by Germany on the Western Front. The outcome of the battle was inconclusive but it resulted in 80,000 allied casualties. The cemetery where Ernest is buried, was located close to the front line.

By kind permission, this information is based on the following source(s):

This information has been provided by Sarah Hands, Volunteer Researcher for the South Gloucestershire War Memorials Web Site.
By kind permission, this information is based on the following source(s):
https://www.cwgc.org/
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/
https://www.findmypast.co.uk/
https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/