Clarence Smith Jeffries
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Clarence Smith Jeffries VC (26 October 1894 - 12 October 1917) was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
He was 22 years old, and a Captain in the 34th Battalion, (N.S.W.), Australian Imperial Force during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.
On 12 October 1917 at Passchendaele, Belgium, with a party of men he had organized, Captain Jeffries rushed a machine-gun emplacement, capturing four machine-guns and 35 prisoners. He then led his company forward under extremely heavy artillery barrage and enfilading machine-gun fire to the objective. Later, he again organized a successful attack on a machine-gun position, capturing two machine-guns and 30 more prisoners. He was killed during this second attack. He is buried at Tyne Cot Cemetery on Broodseinde Ridge, near Passchendaele, Belgium.
[edit] References
- Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
- The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)
- VCs of the First World War - Passchendaele 1917 (Stephen Snelling, 1998)
- Guide to Australian Battlefields of the Western Front 1916-1918 (John Laffin, 1994)
[edit] External links
- JEFFRIES C.S.
- Captain C.S. Jeffries (photo, brief details)
