Cliff, Edward

PRIVATE EDWARD CLIFF 12/169. Born October 1877, Edward was the only child of Edward and Ann Cliff, both deceased long before the war. A Fisherman by trade he married Mary Amelia Dibb at St. John’s Church on 10th July 1897 and the couple lived at 111 High Street, Hull with their son Edward Valentine Cliff. Enlisting at City Hall on 14th September 1914 he joined the 12th Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment, ‘The Sportsmen’, 3rd Hull Pals. After serving in Egypt over Christmas 1915, Edward landed in France early the following March and soon learned the grim reality of life on the Western Front. He was evacuated to 4th Casualty Clearing Station on 10th May 1916 with ‘Multiple shrapnel wounds’. They normally list where. The fact that they have resorted to this horrific description goes some way to painting the picture. Edward died a day later in agonies. He is buried in Beauval Communal Cemetery; he was 38 years old. Mary Dibb died in 1918 leaving their son, then 20, the last remaining link in the family chain. He didn’t fail. Edward Jnr married and had five children.