Captain Clarence Smith Jeffries

Ranks Held	Captain, Second Lieutenant
Birth Date	26/10/1894
Birth Place	Australia: New South Wales, Newcastle, Wallsend
Death Date	12/10/1917
Death Place	Belgium: Flanders, West-Vlaanderen, Passchendaele
Final Rank	Captain
Service	Australian Imperial Force
Units	34th Australian Infantry Battalion 9th Australian Infantry Brigade
Places	New South Wales Passchendaele Wallsend
Events	The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of Captain Clarence Smith Jeffries VC, 34th Battalion, AIF, First World War 1914-1918
Conflict/Operation	First World War, 1914-1918

Description

The 9th Australian Brigade suffered bitter losses in its ill-fated attack on Passchendaele on 12 October 1917. Before he became one of the officers killed there, Clarence "Jeff" Jeffries (1894-1917) had led attacks on German machine-gun posts, capturing several guns and killing or capturing their crews.

Jeffries was just 22 and his family was well known in the Newcastle region, where he had been a mining surveyor on the state's northern coalfields. After the war his father went to Belgium and for a while personally led an ultimately successful search for his grave.

Collection items

Rolls

Roll of Honour:

Unit

34th Australian Infantry Battalion

Conflict

First World War, 1914-1918

Rank

Captain
Honours and Awards (Recommendation):

Unit

34th Australian Infantry Battalion

Conflict

First World War, 1914-1918

Rank

Captain
Honours and Awards:

Unit

34th Australian Infantry Battalion

Conflict

First World War, 1914-1918

Rank

Captain
First World War Embarkation Roll:

Conflict

First World War, 1914-1918

Rank

Second Lieutenant

Timeline

Date of birth	26/10/1894
Date of embarkation	02/05/1916
Date of honour or award	12/10/1917	Awarded the Victoria Cross for action at Passchendale, Belgium whilst serving with 34 Battalion, 9 Brigade, 3 Division as a Captain.
Date of death	12/10/1917