RATCLIFF-GAYLARD, Cecil

Cecil, the son of Dr and Mrs James Ratcliff-Gaylard, was born in 1889 at Shildon, County Durham, England. His full name was Cecil Charles Alexander Ratcliff-Gaylard. Educated in Scotland and England, he was a keen sportsman and had spent five years in the Cadet Corps and one year with the Gordon Highlanders before coming to Australia about 1911.

When War was declared, Cecil was working for Dr Kinross as a Station Hand at Inverell. He was among those who enlisted within the first weeks of the War, signing up at Randwick NSW on 19 August 1914 as Cecil Ratcliff Gaylard. He was made a Lance Corporal with the 2nd Battalion, B Company, and two months later sailed from Sydney on the transport ship A23 Suffolk.

Cecil was killed in action at Gaba Tepe, Gallipoli on 20 May 1915 and buried at Lone Pine Cemetery. The only personal items returned to his family were a belt, disk and some letters.

The Inverell Honor Roll and Cenotaph record his name as C. R. Gaillard and he was one of the 215 men for whom a memorial tree was planted in Kurrajong Parade in 1919.

Photo: submitted