Pte. Clifford Whiting, 2nd Rifle Brigade.

British War Medal 1914 - 20.
Victory Medal.
3568 Pte. C. H. Whiting, Rifle Brigade.

Clifford Henry Whiting was born in Haggerston, Middlesex, 1886, the second child of George, a groom / bus driver and Hannah Whiting. The 1891 Census records the couple as living at 183 Stewarts Road, Battersea, and lists their children as Claude (9 yrs), Clifford (4 yrs) and Annie Mabel (2yrs). By the time of the 1901 Census, two more daughters, Ethel and Elsie, had been born and Clifford, now aged 14, was employed as a print compositor's apprentice.
On 4th December 1909, Clifford enlisted in the Rifle Brigade at Kingston on Thames, signing up for seven years with the Colours and five years in the Reserve. His Attestation Papers describe him as 23 years and 4 months old, just over 5' 5" tall, weighing 128lbs and with good physical development, a fresh complexion, brown eyes and brown hair. If one reason for joining the army was to see something of the world, he wasn't to be disappointed; in November 1911, Clifford was posted to the 2nd Battalion of the Rifle Brigade in India and would serve almost three years in that country.

On the outbreak of war in 1914, the 2nd Battalion was at Kuldana, a hill station in the Murree Hills. On 20th September, they sailed from Bombay for the UK on the SS Somali, arriving at Liverpool on 22nd October. The Battalion became part of the 25th Brigade, 8th Division, and on 5th October moved to Southampton to embark on the SS Victorian for the short voyage to France. Having arrived at Le Havre on 7th, the men were in the trenches a week later and had their first casualty, 1699 A-Cpl Walter Percy Green, on the 16th. November was particularly cold and conditions in the trenches were miserable; the men's wet boots froze to their feet and 44 men were sent to a field ambulance, suffering from frostbite. In December, there was heavy rain and mud. The casualty figures for 1914 were 4 officers and 18 other ranks killed or died of wounds, 3 officers and 23 other ranks wounded and 224 men sick.

On 9th May 1915, the 2nd Rifle Brigade took part in the Battle of Fromelles, attacking towards the German trenches at Rouges Bancs. The artillery bombardment started at 5.00am, a number of shells falling short and causing severe casualties in the advanced sap where "B" and "D" Companies of the Battalion were waiting to lead the advance. Nevertheless, at 5.40am, they crossed No Man's Land, took their objectives swiftly and began the task of consolidating the captured positions. The problem that soon became apparent was that they were entirely alone, the battalions to either side of them having been annihilated by machine gun fire as they left their trenches. As most of the attacking waves failed to get beyond their own parapet and supporting troops began moving forward from behind, the trenches became hopelessly congested and the advance came to a standstill. In their exposed advanced position, the 2nd Rifle Brigade men continued to consolidate but were subjected to withering fire from both flanks and the rear. Casualties mounted throughout the day and, at around 2.00am, after the men had been fighting since the previous morning, they had to face a German counter-attack. By 3.00am, it was all over; after fierce hand-to-hand fighting, the position was lost. A few men escaped and made their way back to the old British lines, about 50 were captured, about 30 were wounded and picked up by the enemy the next day, and the remainder were dead. At some point in the fighting, Clifford Whiting had been wounded in the right arm by shrapnel. It was a coveted "Blighty" wound and on 17th May he was back in England to recuperate.

By October, Clifford had recovered sufficiently to be posted back to his Battalion in France. On 25th June 1916, the 2nd Rifle Brigade were in trenches opposite Orvillers on the Somme. As part of the preparations for the forthcoming attack, the 2nd Battalion was called upon to carry out a raid on the enemy trenches. The enterprise was well-planned and skilfully executed. After a preliminary discharge of gas and bombardment of the position, two officers and 50 men, armed with knobkerries, daggers, fixed swords, bombs and revolvers, rushed the enemy line, successfully destroying the German wire with "Bangalore torpedoes and, once in the trench, proceeded to kill the garrison either in hand-to-hand fighting or by bombing the dug-outs. In the words of the Rifle Brigade history: "They had been instructed not to bring back more than three prisoners. They brought back one, of the 180th Wurtemberg Regiment - but they left a shambles behind them. A hurried investigation with torches when the fight was over, showed the trench and dug-outs to be choked with dead and wounded - estimated at the least at fifty. The casualties of the raiders, all of which were brought back, were one killed and ten wounded."

Sadly, one of the wounded was Clifford Whiting. He was evacuated to the 92nd Field Ambulance and died there on 26th June 1916. He was buried in Warloy-Baillon Cemetery, five miles west of Albert, and his few personal possessions - 1 identity disc, 1 case with letters, 1 pipe, 1 lighter, 1 pencil and a 1d coin - were returned to his father in London. He was 29 years old and had served in the ranks for five and a half years.