SERVICE NO: 4340
YEAR OF BIRTH: 1896
PLACE OF BIRTH: Hamilton
DATE OF ENLISTMENT: 26 July 1915
PLACE OF ENLISTMENT: Melbourne
AGE AT ENLISTMENT: 18
UNIT: 8th Battalion
EMBARKED: 29 December 1915
TROOP SHIP: HMAT A64 Demosthenes
FATE: Killed in Action – Pozieres – 26 July 1916

CLARENCE EVERARD YOUNG. Image courtesy of the Australian War Memorial. Image no. H06163 https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/H06163/
Clarence Everard Young, born in 1896, was the son of Robert Downes Young and Mary Ann Hughes, originally of Coleraine Road, Hamilton. By the start of the war, the Young family were living in Clarke street and Robert was a livery stable manager.
!["[No heading]." Hamilton Spectator (Vic. : 1870 - 1918) 6 Jan 1914: 2. Web. 13 May 2015 .](https://mywdfamilies.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/cy.jpg?w=1040)
“[No heading].” Hamilton Spectator (Vic. : 1870 – 1918) 6 Jan 1914: 2. Web. 13 May 2015 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page13375985>.ON
With the 8th Battalion, Clarence moved from Egypt to France with the battalion a part of the Battle of Pozieres from 23 July 1916 to 7 August 1916. Eighty-one members of the battalion were killed during the battle and Clarence Young was one of those, killed in action on 26 July 1916, aged nineteen and exactly one year after his enlistment. On the day of his death, the 8th Battalion unit diary recorded – “All this day battalion headquarters and trenches were subjected to a terrific bombardment which completely destroyed our trenches…”
Back in Hamilton, the Youngs learnt of Clarence’s death from a cable sent by their son Leonard, also serving with the 8th Battalion. Two years after Clarence’s death, his family’s suffering was still evident,
Days of sadness still come o’er us Hidden secret tears still flow,
Fond memory brings our loved one nearer
Though he died two years ago.
– Inserted by his sorrowing parents, sisters and brothers, and Len on active service.
Hamilton Spectator 27 July 1918
A tree was planted for Clarence along Hamilton’s Anzac Avenue and the Clarke Street Avenue of Honour. His name is on the Hamilton War Memorial.
ONLINE RESOURCES
Australian War Memorial – 8th Australian Infantry Battalion
Australian War Memorial – 8th Australian Infantry Battalion Unit Diary
Australian War Memorial – Roll of Honour – Clarence Everard Young
Australian War Memorial – WW1 Embarkation Roll – Clarence Everard Young
Commonwealth War Graves Commission -Villers-Bretonneux Memorial – Clarence Everard Young
Discovering Anzacs – WW1 Service Record – Clarence Everard Young
Newspaper Articles from Trove – Clarence Everard Young
The AIF Project – Clarence Everard Young