compton, clarence henry

Gosford District Casualties of World War One

Bragg, Edmund Allen Service Number 1494

Killed in Action 19th May 1915 Gallipoli Peninsula

Gosford District Casualties of World War One

Compton, Clarence Henry Service Number 1011

Died 3/4th September 1917 Marakeb, Palestine

Gosford City Council gratefully acknowledges the voluntary efforts of

Benalyn Campbell

And Vivienne Tranter

in compiling this resource

The information in this file has been extracted from official records

held in the

The Australian War Memorial and

National Archives of Australia

Further information on this soldier may be found online at:

Commonwealth War Graves

The AIF project

Content advisory: This file may potentially contain disturbing accounts of service-related injury and death, disease and family grief. Adult supervision is recommended for children

using these resources. Individual files should be viewed within the context

provided by wider research on service conditions in the 1st AIF.

This resource is presented by Gosford City Council

for research purposes only. Please note that copyright for resources

contained within remains with the original copyright owners.

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/deed.en

NAME Compton, Clarence Henry

SERVICE NO 1011

UNIT 5th Light Horse

RANK Transport Sergeant

AGE at Enlistment 40 yrs 2 mths

PLACE OF BIRTH Fremantle, WA

ADDRESS Green Point ?

OCCUPATION Farmer

DATE OF ENLISTMENT 25 Sept 1914

PLACE OF ENLIST-MENT

Marrickville, NSW

PREVIOUS SERVICE 18 mths WA Mounted Infantry.

NEXT OF KIN Wife Mary Ann Compton, 4 Ventnor Ave. Perth, WA (Estranged)

PHYSICAL DESCRIP-TION

Height-5’7”. Weight-9st. 6 lbs. Chest-34-36½

Complexion-Florid. Eyes-Grey. Hair-Dk Brown. Small brown mole left shoulder.

RELIGION C/E

EMBARKED

DISEMBARKED

NOTES Records included depositions from witnesses

WOUNDED/ILLNESS Committed Suicide, by blowing his brains out with a rifle. Marakeb Palestine.

DIED 3/4 Sept 1917 during the night

BURIED 4 Sept 1917-On top of Tel-el-Marakeb, by Rev Backhouse. Re-interred Gaza Mil Cem. Plot CC Gve 21 changed to Plot 25 Row B Gve 5

MEDALS 1914-15 Star-14675, British War Medal-5605, Victory Medal-5592. Memorial Plaque & Scroll-330365.

DEPENDANTS Daughters Alwyne Beatrice, Gwenyth Joan, Joselyn Hope, Sons Gregory Raynor, Dudley Spence. D53 Outram St. Perth.

PERSONAL EFFECTS 2 Id discs, 3 Shirts, 1 shell curio, 3 Pr Socks, 1 Muffler, 1 Pen, 1 Bank Book, 1 comb 1 Wallet containing letters, Scissors, Photos etc. 1 Black wallet contain-ing Notes, 1 envelope containing photos. Post Cards, 1 Testament, 1 Purse containing Crucifix, 2 coins 1 Badge, Passes etc. 1 Watch.

WILL

CORRESPONDENCE Adopted Mother Mildred S Cuthbert, Green Point

REMARKS

RED CROSS REPORT Yes

GOSFORD TIMES 30.4.1915.

LETTERS FROM EGYPT. Mr C. H. Compton, adopted son of Mr and Mrs

Cuthbert, of Green Point, Gosford, who is driver in

the 6th Army Service Corps, now stationed in Egypt,

writes home from Ma’adi Camp under date March 7:-

We were at Ismaliah the morning of the fight with the

Turks; About 750 of the enemy were taken prisoners,

and they are now camped a mile from us. Although

not actually in the row, our ship was heavily barri-

caded and extra guards mounted. We were not al-

lowed ashore until we reached Alexandria, and then

only to entrain for Cairo, which we eventually

reached about 4.30 in the morning. This is a rotten

country, but wonderful all the same. It is not a fit

place for a white man to live in dust, sand, flies and

disease. The general morality is shockingly low. In

Cairo one sees buildings said to be a thousand years

old, and alongside are houses erected not to years

ago. The principal buildings are wonderful to look at,

I can’t describe them, but when I tell you that the fin-

est of them are far and away ahead of anything in

Sydney, you will have an idea of the architectural

beauty of the city in general, I hope the people of

Australia will not believe any of the grossly exagger-

ated statements made concerning our troops. There

is a big row going on about it, but people should only

believe what is officially published in the papers.

With about a hundred others, I am suffering from an

ulcerated throat caused by the dust collecting in the

thorax. Under the circumstances speech is difficult.

GOSFORD TIMES. 26.10.1916.

Letters From Gosford soldiers “WE WANT MORE MEN” Sergt. G. F. Compton writes:- How can I thank you for your kindness and thoughtfulness in sending me the two parcels of comforts. I

cannot tell you how much they are appreciated, and how very useful they (the contents) are. It is very nice

to know that we are not forgotten by the ones left behind, and I hope to be able to thank you personally

after the war is over. We are having a pretty rough time at present, but hope that things will improve. I

cannot tell you any “war news” as our censor is pretty keen, but you will see by the papers how we are get-

ting along But WE WANT MORE MEN. Good bye and God bless you all for your kindness in thinking of us

and cheering us up in our work.

GOSFORD TIMES. 20.12.1917.

HIS LAST LETTER. Sergeant C. H. Compton, 5

th Light Horse Regi-

ment, died in Palestine on the 4th or 5

th Septem-

ber. He was the adopted son of Mr and Mrs T.

Cuthbert, of Green Point, Gosford, who have

just received the last letter written home by the

dead hero. In it the lad complained of being

tired to death after three years continuous ser-

vice without a break or holiday. He expressed

the hope that Mr Hughes would send reinforce-

ments to give a rest to those who were left of the

1st Australian Division. It would make the men

at the front more satisfied if they knew that their

mates in Australia were coming to give them a

hand, but when they had to fight on and on and

on for three years at a stretch, it was little won-

der that the men (those who had not been killed

or wounded) were despondent and despaired of

ever seeing their homes again. At time of writ-

ing he said that the British and Australians were

pushing on in Palestine and hoped to be in the

holy city of Jerusalem before Christmas. The

advance from the Suez Canal, he wrote, was

wonderful. Twelve months ago they were 175

miles back, and during the year they had ad-

vanced that distance across sand desert, build-

ing railways as they went, laying the mains for a

water supply, and fighting the Turks the whole

of the distance. He was right – the troops

reached Jerusalem before Christmas, but Ser-

geant Compton occupies a soldier’s grave on

the way, as do many other valiant Australians

who went across to fight for their country and all

that it meant to them and to those who remained

behind.

Abridged record/s courtesy of the National Archives of Australia (NAA) Series No: B2455 Item Barcode: 3274814

compton, clarence henry

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