Alfred Henry CLEGG

Alfred Henry Clegg was born on the 15 July 1894 the first son and eldest of 5 children born to Alfred Vincent Clegg and Prudence Rosina Norris, Alfred Henry 1894, Charles Richard 1896, Edward James 1899, George Frederick 1902 and Ethel May 1906.

Prior to his service in the 26th Infantry Battalion, Alfred served in the Far North Queensland Kennedy Regiment, known as the Dirty 500.  Members of the Dirty 500, including Alfred, landed on Thursday Island on 16 August 1914 from the troopship “Kanowna”, to take part in the capture of German New Guinea. An incident on board the “Kanowna” involving the firemen forced the immediate return of the troops to Townsville on 18 September 1914.

At the time of enlistment in Cairns he was a Corporal in the Citizen Force “E” Coy.  He was 20 years 7 months of age, his occupation a Clerk and next of kin was his mother, Mrs. A.V.Clegg, Albert Street, South Townsville, Qld.  His height was 5 feet 9 inches. weighed 9 stone 4 pounds with a fair complexion, blue eyes and dark brown hair. He was Church of England.

He embarked on the HMAT Ascanius from Brisbane on 24 May 1915 for the Gallipoli Peninsula and was evacuated on 11 December 1915 to Alexandria, Egypt.  He spent a week at Moascar which was an “Isolation Camp” used to screen soldiers for illness before moving them on.  He was promoted to Sergeant on 11 March 1916.

Alfred  returned to Alexandria then proceeded to Marseilles, France arriving on 21 March 1916.  He spent several days at a 2nd Division Rest Station before returning to duty where he was killed in action on 29 July 1916.  He is remembered on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France