Historians vow to bring Private Dudley Clift’s story to light

Stored in a box for almost 100 years, the identify of the solider has been revealed as Pitnacree’s Dudley Joseph Clift.

But the identification is leading researchers on a whole new trail to unveil Clift’s story before he enlisted and that of his family left behind. 

Maitland resident Heather Yates discovered Private Clift’s photo in a box of memorabilia belonging to fellow (Maitland) fallen war soldier Sam Robinson.

Through their research, Maitland war historians John Gillam and Yvonne Fletcher have discovered the former stock and station agent’s name, age at the time of enlistment along with his height and weight. The strapping six footer was a month short of his 32nd birthday when he enlisted on March 30, 1915 a month before Australia’s baptism of fire at Gallipoli.

They have also learned the details of Private Clift’s tragic death in France in March, 1917. “Dudley was hit carrying rations to the front line in France. It was a very quiet period and it was bad luck,” Mr Gillam said.

“A shell came over and Dudley took five shrapnel wounds and ended up dying about three or four weeks later from blood poisoning because there were no antibiotics back then. So that’s what killed him, septicaemia, not the wounds.”

Ms Fletcher has also sourced a document revealing an eyewitness account of the incident, which eventually led to the soldier’s death.

“It happened sometime in February 1917 and four or five of the soldiers were killed outright. Clift was one of the wounded men and was able to walk out,” Ms Fletcher said.

The three are now on a mission to locate Private Clift’s family.

“We have put Dudley’s information together in a profile and, along with the photograph, we are keen to hand this over to any remaining family members and to learn more about the Clift family story,” Mr Gillam said.

“The family may have all this information or they may not . . . that’s what we want to find out.”