The AIF Project

William Cyril McCLURE

Regimental number3853
Place of birthMelbourne, Victoria
ReligionPresbyterian
OccupationBoot clicker
Address299 Burnley Street, Burnley, Victoria
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation19
Height5' 9"
Weight140 lbs
Next of kinMother, Mrs M McClure, 286 Burnley Street, Burnley, Victoria
Previous military serviceServed in the Senior Cadets, and in 56th Infantry, Citizen Military Forces.
Enlistment date15 July 1915
Place of enlistmentMelbourne, Victoria
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name8th Battalion, 12th Reinforcement
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/25/4
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Adelaide, South Australia, on board HMAT A40 Ceramic on 23 November 1915
Regimental number from Nominal Roll3858
Rank from Nominal RollPrivate
Unit from Nominal Roll60th Battalion
FateKilled in Action 19 July 1916
Place of burialNo known grave
Commemoration detailsV.C. Corner (Panel No 21), Australian Cemetery Memorial, Fromelles, France
Panel number, Roll of Honour,
  Australian War Memorial
170
Family/military connectionsBrother: 5794 Pte Norman James McCLURE, 1st Pioneer Bn, returned to Australia, 5 March 1919.
Other details

War service: Egypt, Western Front

Found guilty, Zeitoun, 25 February 1916, of (1) neglecting Battalion order by leaving Camp; (2) being improperly dressed: awarded forfeiture of 1 day's pay.

Admitted to No 4 Auxiliary Hospital, Abbassia, 8 March 1916 (mumps); discharged to duty, 20 March 1916.

Taken on strength, 59th Bn, Ferry Post, 3 April 1916.

Transferred to 60th Bn, Ferry Post, 4 April 1916.

Embarked Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force, 18 June 1916; disembarked Marseilles, France, 29 June 1916.

Reported Missing, 19 July 1916.

Court of Enquiry, held in the field, 4 August 1917, pronounced fate as 'Killed in Action, 19 July 1916'.

Note, Red Cross File No 1890703: 'No trace Germany. Cert, by Capt. Mills. 10.10.19.'

Statement, 4000 Pte H. LEWITZ, D Company, 60th Bn, 17 January 1917: 'Witness says he saw soldier killed at Fleurbaix when about half way across No Man's Land by a shell. Witness was also wounded and lay alongside of soldier and was quite sure he was dead.'

Second statement by LEWITZ, 9 June 1917: 'McClure was hit by a shell in our front line trenches at Fleurbaix just before we went over to attack about 6 p.m. on the 19th July. I was close by when he was hit. He was badly cut about in the stomach and side and I should think that he did not live long after being hit. After we came back I saw his body lying in the trenches. He as then dead. I don't know what was done to the body as we evacuated the trenches shortly afterward.'

Letter, 5793 Pte N.J. McCLURE, 1st Pioneer Bn, to mother, 28 November 1916: 'At last I found out about poor Cyril[;] he is not missing and never was. He was killed shot through the head with a machine gun. We came up with his Div. and the first thing I did was to go and find him ... I went to his Sargt. (sic) and he took me in to have a look at the book and there was his name missing July 19th. It nearly killed me on the spot[;] you can guess how I felt after expecting to see him. Then I went round to some of his cobbers and had a word with them[;] they told me then how he was killed. They were hopping over the parapet when he got shot. After it was all over they had no chance to bury him but two days later some of his section mates found him and buried him behind the line and put a cross up with his name and Batt. [T]hey told me where it is so when I get near there again I will have a chance of seeing his grave.'

Third statement, 3776 Lance Corporal C. GOODGER, 60th Bn, 16 June 1917: 'I saw his body lying in our own trench, badly mutilated. I know nothing as to his burial.'
SourcesNAA: B2455, McCLURE William Cyril
Red Cross File No 1890703

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