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Cpl. Clifford Charles Bunn MM.
British Army 9th Btn. Norfolk Regiment
from:Carlton Colville, Lowestoft, Suffolk
(d.21st March 1918)
Clifford Bunn enlisted in the Army on a short service engagement and was attested at Felixstowe on 12th of September 1914 and passed his medical at Lowestoft on the following day. On 25th of September 1914 he was posted to the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion, Suffolk Regiment, based at Felixstowe for basic training.
When he joined the Army he was 17 years old (his army records him as 19) and a fisherman. He was 5 feet 6 inches inches tall, weighed 143lbs and his chest measurement was 35 inches fully expanded. He had a fair complexion, brown hair and brown eyes.
On 26th of January 1915 he joined the B.E.F. as a private (No. 15426) in the 2nd Bn., Suffolk Regiment, and was posted to the battalion which was holding the sector of the Allied Line in Belgium between Ypres and La Bassee in the Vierstraat area. The battalion formed part of the 8th Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division. During early 1915 the battalion saw very little action nevertheless it sustained 140 casualties in March alone. On 11th of April the battalion was withdrawn from the trenches and was in billets in Westoutre.
It was in the Vierstraat area that Clifford was wounded by a sniper. He received a gunshot wound to his cheek and jaw on 18 April 1915 and was taken to No. 8 Casualty Clearing Station at Westroute and was transferred to a military hospital at Wimereux the same day and thence on to the No. 8 Clearing Hospital at Bailleul. On the 25th of April he was sent back to England on the hospital ship St. Patrick.
He remained in England recovering from his wounds until 3 October 1915 when he was transferred to the 9th Btn. Suffolk Regiment, 71st Brigade, 24th Infantry Division and returned to France.
On 25th of September the battalion had taken part the battle of Loos only twenty-five days after landing in France and had suffered heavy casualties. After the battle it was withdrawn to Proven to rest and reorganise. It was here that Clifford joined it on 4th of October 1915 as a replacement. The following day it marched with the 71st Brigade to Brandhoek where, on 11th of October, the brigade was transferred to 6th Division.
From October until the end of the year the battalion occupied the line at Forward Cottage trenches or at St. Jean. When not in the line it was ator near Poperinghe furnishing night time working parties. On 19th of December while in the trenches in front of St. Jean the battalion was subjected to a gas attack in the early hours of the morning followed by a very heavy bombardment which lasted 24 hours resulting in over eighty causalities. On 15 December Clifford had 1s 3d stopped from his pay for losing a clasp knife!
Christmas was spent resting at Poperinghe, moving back into camp behind Ypres on the 30th of December after a spell in the trenches at St. Jean.
The battalion remained in this sector until 5th of April 1916 went it moved back to Calais for R & R. It remained here for 10 days and was back in its old camp near Poperinghe and back in the front line around St. Jean and Forward Cottage. It came out of the line again on 18 May 1916 to a camp behind Ypres, returning to the trenches around Forward Cottage early in June. The end of the month saw the Battalion back in camp near Poperinghe until 3 July when it marched to Bollezeele, moving a few days later to Houtkerque for recuperation and training in open warfare. On July 22nd it took over billets in Ypres.
On 4th of August the battalion marched to Albert and took over trenches in front of Mailly-Maillett Wood where they were given the task of clearing the battlefield of the dead of the Ulster Division.
The 28th of August saw the battalion moving to Mericourt l'Abbe on the Ancre and thence into the Sandpit area on the south-eastern edge of Ginchy where on 11 September it took over the trenches of 4th Bn., Coldsteam Guards.
On 13th of September the battalion took part in the attack by the 6th Division on the Quadrilateral between Ginchy and Bouleux Wood but it was stopped by fierce German resistance. The attack recommenced on the 15 September, this time involving 11 British Divisions (including the 6th) during the attack the battalion suffered heavy casualties losing over 100 men dead or wounded and was withdrawn into the support trenches on 17 September. The Quadrilateral was captured by the 6th Division the following day but it had suffered over 3500 casulaties. On the 19th September the battalion marched to Ville-sur-Ancre.
Between 25th and 28th of September the battalion took part in the Battle of Morval when the villages of Morval, Gueudecourt and Les Boeufs were attacked, the latter being captured by the 6th and Guards Division.
From the 3rd of December 1916 to 22nd of December Clifford seems to have been at a Base Hospital in Boulogne. 26th of December 1916 he was in Beaumarais. On the 23rd of January 1917 he Rejoined his battalion in the field. On the 6th of May 1917 he was appointed acting Corporal. and on the 18th of July 1917 he was gazetteered for the Military Medal 16th of February 1918 he was posted to 9th Battalion, Norfolk Regiment.
On 19th of February 1918: Canon Bignold writes "Corporal Clifford Bunn, M.M., has just been to see me and looks very well, but the drum of one ear is destroyed. He is off again for the Front this evening and is very cheery."
Clifford was Posted missing on the 21st of March 1918 and on the 17th of April 1918 his Father was notified that he had "died on or since 21 March 1918" His total service was reckoned to be 3 years 191 days and on the 19th of November 1918 his mother was granted a pension of 7s 6d to be paid from this date.
