Family at War: Part 1: Clarence Wilfred Stiff

Unlike those politicians who seem to think the First World War should be either 'celebrated' or 'glorified' (but happily not reflected in the TV coverage I have seen), I think it should be a time for sober reflection about the consequences of war. As part of this, I thought I'd remember family members who were involved, starting with Mrs P's first cousin once removed (her grandmother's brother's son), Clarence Wilfred Stiff.

Clarence lived in Clomendy Road, Cwmbran, in a house next to that of his grandparents. He enlisted in the 2nd Monmouthshire Regiment in October 1914, and went to the Western Front in 1915, landing in France on 17th February. He was killed in action on 6th May 1915, aged 17. His obituary in a local newspaper noted “Though only 17 years of age he was a fine youth, towering over 6 ft. Up to the time of the reserve battalion leaving Pontypool he was in the bugle band. He was an enthusiastic cricketer, and a member of the Cwmbran Cricket Club. He was also a scholar at the Cwmbran Wesleyan Sunday School. His father, Mr J. J. Stiff, of Clomendy-road, Cwmbran, has been an honoured official of the Wesleyan Church for 21 years, and is at present treasurer of the Trust Funds.”

He was killed during the Second Battle of Ypres, when the trenches sheltering his regiment came under sustained and heavy German bombardment with shells and gas. His body was never recovered and he is listed on Panel 50 on the Menin Gate Memorial in Ypres in Belgium. He is also commemorated on the Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds' (GKN) panels on the Cwmbran WW1 memorial in Cwmbran Park and on the British Legion Memorial in St Gabriel's Church, Cwmbran.

That Clarence is mentioned on the GKN memorial panels indicates that he was working at the steelworks in Cwmbran and it may be that he joined many of his work mates in enlisting in the 2nd Monmouthshires. It is clear that he was under the official age of enlistment at the time but, in the fervour of the times, this was not an unusual occurrence.

We are lucky in having copies of much of the documentation received by the family after his death and these are shown below. Collectively they show the price of his death - some bits of metal and some pieces of paper.

The letter accompanying the medals, awarded posthumously, gained by Clarence Stiff.

The family of everyone killed in WW1 received this commemorative plaque, known as the 'Death Penny'.

The scroll that accompanied the Death Penny.

The GKN panel on the Cwmbran War Memorial.

The British Legion memorial in St Gabriel's Church in Cwmbran.

Clarence's entry on the Commonwealth War Grave Commission's Website.