Eldred James Stanhope Belford was born in Hamilton, New South Wales, on 22 August 1894. He was educated at Toronto Public School and, in his youth, was a member of Newcastle Surf Club and the army Cadets. He was later a part-time member of the Citizen Military Forces and worked as a salesman in a bookshop. He was 20-years-old and working as an engine cleaner for the New South Wales Government Railways in Newcastle when he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 13 July 1915 for service in the First World War. He was posted to the 11th Reinforcements to the 1st Infantry Battalion and, following a period of training at Liverpool, he embarked from Sydney for service overseas in October 1915. Belford joined the 1st Battalion in Egypt in January 1916, following the evacuation from Gallipoli, and with his battalion sailed for France – and the Western Front – in March. The battalion was posted to northeastern France, and Belford was promoted to lance corporal on 4 April. Two months later, while he was in the front line near Fleurbaix on 19 June 1916, Belford was mortally wounded when a trench mortar landed next to his position. He was evacuated to the 1st Australian Casualty Clearing Station, where he died later that day. He is buried in Estaires Communal Cemetery and Extension.