Angelo, Clennell Collingwood

1777 Private Clennell Collingwood Angelo – 16th Battalion

Clennell Collingwood Angelo was born in Launceston Tasmania in 1880 to Colonel Fox and Mary Angelo. Shortly after his birth the Angelo’s moved to Western Australia where Colonel Fox Angelo became Commandant of the State’s forces. The family moved around for a time as Fox Angelo was also Resident Magistrate at Roebourne and Rottnest Island. Clennell’s sibling’s, Robert was born in Perth in 1882, Sophia in Bunbury in 1890 and Leith on Rottnest Island in 1892. The Angelo’s were well known in the state and Colonel Fox Angelo took many local Militia Officers such as Talbot Hobbs under his wing.

For a time young Clennell lived up north when his father was based in Roebourne but when Colonel Fox took up the reins of Magistrate on Rottnest the family live on the Island until 1898. For a time Colonel Fox moved to Albany to live with his eldest Daughter, a Mrs. Pym, but the rest of the family moved to Peppermint Grove. Colonel Fox became very ill in 1902 and he was moved in to the family home in Peppermint Grove where Colonel Fox Angelo died in 1902.

Clennell soon took up work as a storekeeper in the Southern Fremantle district and his mother moved to Cottesloe. Clennell offered his services to the AIF in Rockingham on the 18^th January 1915. He was found to be fit for service with the medical examiner recording his physical attributes as;

Height:                                     5 feet 4 inches;

Weight:                                    156lbs;

Chest Measurement:              38-40 inches;

Complexion:                            Dark;

Eyes:                                       Brown;

Hair:                                        Black;

Religious Denomination:         Church of England

Distinctive Marks:                   Tattoo of ship on left forearm; scar on right calf

After his successful enlistment Clennell was sent to Blackboy Hill Camp where he was assigned to No.5 Training Depot where he underwent basic infantry training. On the 16^th February 1915 Clennell was transferred into the 4^th Reinforcements to the 16^th Battalion AIF. He trained with this group in WA for the next two months. They then received their orders for departure and on the 19^th April 1915 Clennell and his group boarded the HMAT Argyllshire and set sail for Egypt, disembarking in Alexandria on the 13^th May.

The men were soon sent to join the 16^th Battalion at Anzac as since the first weeks of the campaign the 16^th had been decimated. Clennell saw action during the 16^th Battalion’s assault on Hill 971 when the 4^th Brigade tried valiantly to reach this Turkish position. The assaults were unsuccessful though casualties were once again high. The 16^th Battalion also saw action at Hill 60 but at the end of August Clennell was very ill and was sent to a Hospital Ship Huntsgreen and sent to Mudros. He re-embarked after a few days and was sent to England. On arriving here on the 16^th September he was sent into King George Military Hospital at Stamford. Clennell would remain in England for the rest of 1915 and on recovering from his illness he was put in a draft of soldiers returning to Egypt.

The Australians had by this stage been evacuated from Gallipoli, so when Clennell returned to Egypt on the 16^th January 1916 he was taken back on strength of the Battalion. Apart from a short stay in hospital, Clennell served with the 16^th during their next six months in Egypt.

He also organised for his younger brother Leith to join him in the 16^th Battalion, getting him transferred from the 32^nd Battalion. With the reorganisation of the AIF the 4^th Brigade became part of the 4^th Division AIF. As many were new units, the 4^th Division would embark on hard training in Egypt until June 1916. The 16^th Battalion boarded the H.M.T. “Canada” at Alexandria on the 1^st June 1916 and arrived at Marseilles France on the 9^th June.

After being disembarked, the 16^th Battalion travelled north up to the region around Armentieres. They spent the rest of June and the early part of July in this area until they were relieved by the 5^th Division AIF. In mid July they were sent down to the Somme battlefield and would continue the advance at Pozieres over ground won at a great cost to the 1^st & 2^nd Divisions. The 16^th Battalion went into the line in early August and launched assaults towards the position at Mouquet Farm. On the 10^th August Clennell was wounded in the thigh by a bullet. After being evacuated to a Casualty Clearing Station for treatment he was admitted to the 1^st Australian General Hospital on the 13^th August 1916. Fortunately it was just a slight flesh wound and after treatment Clennell returned to the 16^th Battalion on the 7^th September 1916. The 16^th Battalion was now in the Ypres sector of Belgium but they would return to the Somme in November 1916 and they would endure the harsh 1916/17 French winter in the mud of the battlefield.

On the 3^rd November Clennell got into trouble for going AWOL from his billet for four hours and was subsequently given 21 days of Field Punishment No.2 as a result. This did not seem to leave a bad impression on his CO as Clennell was shortly appointed to Lance Corporal.

In late February 1917 the Germans began their systematic withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line. The Australian and British divisions pushed them all the way and several sharp engagements took place. The 16^th Battalion as part of the 4^th Division were ordered to attack this line without the assistance of artillery and just with the support of tanks. As the men went forward on April 11^th 1917 the tanks were failing miserably, and the Germans, not being under artillery fire were clear to shoot the Australians down. Amazingly the 16^th Battalion managed to fight their way into the German trenches and held the German line for a period of time in the morning. But without reinforcements or supplies coming through the surviving men had to either withdraw under heavy fire or surrender. It was the heaviest Australian defeat of the war, though the troops involved showed much bravery. It was the lack of artillery support which proved their undoing. Clennell was captured by the Germans before he could retire from their trenches and he was thus made a Prisoner of War. Fortunately his brother Leith came through the action unscathed.

Many of the captured Australians were used by the Germans on working parties close behind their front lines and were often under shellfire from the British; however it appears that Clennell was sent to a prison camp in Limburg Germany.

Clennell was initially reported as Missing which proved a great worry for his family until the news came through the Red Cross that he was a Prisoner of War. Clennell remained as such during the war and on the Armistice being signed in November 1918; the Prisoners of war were repatriated to England, Clennell arriving in London on the 9^th December 1918. He was then given leave in England and he was able to see his brother Leith and they were both given a berth on the same ship home. On the 24^th January 1919 the Angelo brothers boarded the HMT Delta and set sail for Australia, disembarking in Fremantle on the 28^th February 1919.

After being sent to No.8 AGH in South Terrace Fremantle for a medical check-up, Clennell was released from hospital and for a short time resided at his mother’s residence in Ord Street Fremantle. He was officially discharged from the AIF on the 6^th May 1919.

Clennell then moved north to the Pilbara region and in 1920 he married Elizabeth Wemyss. They soon returned south and set up residence at 8 Marmion Street Fremantle and Clennell found employment in the Records Section of the Naval Office Fremantle.

Unfortunately Elizabeth died in 1941 and Clennell died on the 8^th July 1945. He was buried in the Congregational Section of Fremantle Cemetery in plot MON D 0034. He was 65 years old.