Soldier Record

Served in Salonika, building as well as blowing up Bridges and Railways, and France helping with recovery of the wounded. Related tales of removing lengths of rail with Cordite, blowing up "lookout platforms", especially one they had built in a tree and was now in enemy territory. Under darkness they set charges at the base and in his words "sent the thing off like a rocket". It was only on returning to base , they lost their way, and spent time lying low, living off rations the unit had previously hidden on retreat. A message had been returned to England "missing on duty" to my Grandmother only to be followed exactly a week later, the time they were missing, reporting "found safe and well".

My Grandfather and friend who will always be remembered as kind and knowledgeable.

Another tale told of a basket hung under a balloon for the use of an Observer, tethered to a winch, sent up one day to spy on the enemy further up the valley. Whilst observing, the enemy sent up a Triplane to deal with the balloon by firing at it with a pistol. The basket and balloon fell to the ground. Repaired it was sent up several times for the same thing to happen, fired at and fall to the ground. The Officer in charge, Capt. Hall, said repair the basket and balloon but this time fill it with explosives.

As expected the Triplane returned and circled over the balloon, as the pilot fired, the explosives were set off blowing the plane out of control and crashing to the ground. The pilot was captured, later Clifford thought he might have been "The Red Baron" as the plane was painted Red.

When returning from Salonika through Italy by train, the men housed in nothing more than cattle wagons, and each night they would stop between towns. They soon calculated how far past a town they were, and under darkness would return on foot to a town to have a few drinks and food.

He told me he had not shot anyone, but could not account for missions when they blew up trains and bridges etc..

They did shoot a cow one night when on guard duty outside their camp. Shouting "who goes there" several times with no response, he and his mate let go. With the whole camp awake, inspections were made to find only a cow! They all enjoyed beef on the menu!!

In the 1950's whilst enjoying a pint in the "Fox and Goose"pub on the A38 near Flax Bourton, Somerset, he was approached by a man, about his age, inquiring about whether they knew each other? Several exchanges of residence, jobs, workplaces they suddenly remembered that they had met during WW1 when Clifford was stretcher bearing in France and the stranger was the injured man on the stretcher.

Clifford returned after the War to Winscombe, Som. to his wife Elsie and my late father Kenneth to carry on his

Building and Undertakers business. He said it had badly affected local men who had never ever left their villages, some coming back to unhappy marriages. One of his fellow villagers even finished it in a remote barn.

Will remember the debt paid by all those men and women.