Cyril Albert Clowes CBE DSO MC (1892 - 1968)

Ancestors

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Formative years 1.2 The Great War 1.3 Between wars 1.4 Second World War 1.5 Final parade 1.6 Honours and awards 2 Sources 3 See also

Biography

LT GEN Cyril Clowes

Lieutenant General Cyril Clowes CBE DSO MC was a professional Australian soldier with a career spanning 38 years. Highly decorated and wounded during the First World War, in which he saw action both at Gallipoli and on the Western Front, he served in the Permanent Military Force betwwen World Wars. He was commanding officer in the first land victory against the Japanese in the Second World War, the Battle of Milne Bay, Papua and again decorated. Like several other senior officers involved in the Papuan Campaign, he was then transferred to 'less important' postings for the remainder of the war.

Formative years

Cyril Albert Clowes was born in 1892 in Warwick, Queensland (Australia). He was the eldest child of Albert Clowes and Beatrice Hall Odling. ^[1] He was educated at Toowoomba Grammar School, East Toowoomba, Queensland.

Cyril entered the Royal Military College, Duntroon in 1911. In August 1914 he graduated and was appointed Lieutenant in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) with a commission in the Permanent Military Force.

The Great War

On 14th August 1914, Cyril was commissioned in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF), his young nation's all-volunteer expeditionary force for the (First World) War. ^[2] He embarked aboard HMAT Argyllshire A8 on 18th October 1914 in Sydney. ^[3]

Posted to the 1st Field Artillery Brigade, Cyril landed at Gallipoli on 25th April 1915, serving as a forward observation officer and directing naval gunfire against Turkish positions. He was wounded at Gallipoli. After he recuperated, Cyril was promoted to Captain in the 2nd Division Artillery in Egypt during January 1916. Cyril was awarded the Serbian Order of the White Eagle, Third Class. ^[4]

On the Western Front during 1916, Cyril served as the 2nd Division's Trench Mortar Officer and was awarded the Military Cross (MC). ^[5] He received a promotion to Major in January 1917 and the following year was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) for his work at Villers-Bretonneux. ^[6] He returned to Australia in April 1919, and left the AIF in late June. He was Mentioned in Despatches, equivalent to today's Commendation for Gallantry. ^[7] For his war service he was awarded the 1914-1915 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal.

Between wars

In 1920 Cyril took up a post as instructor at Duntroon, and remained there until 1925. That year he married Eva Florence Magennis in Yass, New South Wales. ^[8] He was soon after transferred to Brisbane, Queensland.

In Brisbane, he undertook staff, training, and command duties until 1930. He filled similar positions in Sydney and Darwin until, in 1936, he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. He went to England and completed a gunnery staff course, before returning to Australia as the Chief Instructor at Sydney's School of Artillery. In August 1939 he was given command of Australia's 6th Military District, receiving a promotion to Colonel.

Second World War

When the Second World War began, Cyril was made a temporary Brigadier in the Second Australian Imperial Force, and in April 1940 was appointed commander of the I Corps Artillery. He performed very well under pressure in directing the fighting withdrawal at Pinios Gorge, Greece, in April 1941. Although Greece fell, Cyril's tactics minimised casualties during the withdrawal of the allied force; making him an ANZAC once more. He was again Mentioned in Despatches ^[9] and awarded the Greek War Class First Class. ^[10] He returned to Australia in January 1942, was promoted to temporary Major General, and given command of the 1st Division.

Cyril was next appointed commander of the Milne Bay Force, arriving and assuming command of the Australian troops there just four days before the Japanese began landing, beginning the Battle of Milne Bay. Hugely successful in repelling the Japanese attack, at times called suicidal in its intensity, Cyril afterward bore the 'punishment' for being friendly with his superior officer, Lieutenant General Sydney Rowell. Commander-in-Chief Blamey disliked Rowell, as is well documented, and by association, anyone friendly to him. When Milne Bay Force was redesignated 11th Division in 1943, Cyril was transferred to various staff postings until the end of the war. He was promoted to Lieutenant General, appointed Commander of the order of the British Empire (CBE) ^[11] and once more Mentioned in Despatches. ^[12] Peter Brune summed it up rather well in his book, In A Bastard of a Place: The Australians in Papua; "Clowes was a man of few words to those he knew and even less to those he did not. His quiet, calm disposition merely masked a professional, highly trained and courageous officer who was at his best in a crisis". ^[13] For his additional war service, Cyril was awarded the 1939-1945 Star, Pacific Star, Defence Medal, War Medal 1939-1945 and Australia Service Medal 1939-1945.

Final parade

Cyril retired from the Army with the rank of Lieutenant General in June 1949, aged 57 years.

In retirement, Cyril spent his time gardening and playing golf.

Predeceased by his wife and survived by their daughter, Cyril passed away on 19th May 1968 in the Repatriation General Hospital, Heidelberg, Victoria, and was buried with full military honours and Anglican rites in Springvale Cemetery. He was 76 years of age. ^[14]

Honours and awards

Cyril was deservedly very highly decorated (in order of precedence):

• Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)
• Distinguished Service Order (DSO)
• Military Cross (MC)
• Mentioned in Despatches
• 1914-1915 Star
• British War Medal
• Victory Medal with oak leaf Clasp for Mention in Despatches
• 1939-1945 Star
• Pacific Star
• Defence Medal
• War Medal 1939-1945
• Australia Service Medal 1939-1945 with oak leaf Clasp for Mention in Despatches
• Greek War Class, First Class
• Serbian Order of the White Eagle, Third Class

Sources

1. ↑ Queensland Birth Index #1892/C/12076
2. ↑ Australian War Memorial nominal roll: Major Cyril Albert Clowes; accessed 21 May 2018
3. ↑ Australian War Memorial embarkation roll: Lieutenant Cyril Albert Clowes; accessed 12 Feb 2023
4. ↑ Australian War Memorial honours and awards: Serbian Order of the White Eagle; accessed 12 Feb 2023
5. ↑ Australian War Memorial honours and awards: Military Cross; accessed 12 Feb 2023
6. ↑ Australian War Memorial honours and awards: DSO; accessed 12 Feb 2023
7. ↑ Australian War Memorial honours and awards: Mentioned in Despatches; accessed 12 Feb 2023
8. ↑ New South Wales Marriage Index #17914/1925
9. ↑ https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1510706 Australian War Memorial honours and awards: Mentioned in Despatches; accessed 12 Feb 2023]
10. ↑ Australian War Memorial honours and awards: Greek War Cross; accessed 12 Feb 2023
11. ↑ Australian War Memorial honours and awards: CBE; accessed 12 Feb 2023
12. ↑ Australian War Memorial honours and awards: Mentioned in Despatches; accessed 12 Feb 2023
13. ↑ Brune, Peter. A Bastard of a Place: The Australians in Papua. Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 2003. ISBN 1-74114-403-5
14. ↑ Victoria Death Index #10974/1968

See also

• Australian War Memorial: Lieutenant General Cyril Albert Clowes; accessed 12 Feb 2023.
• Denholm, David. Clowes, Cyril Albert (1892–1968), Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1993; accessed online 21 May 2018.
• Wikipedia: Cyril Clowes; accessed 21 May 2018.