Clement Taylor Tweedale

Acting Corporal Clement Taylor Tweedale – King’s Royal Rifle Corps, 16^th Battalion

Early Life

Clement Taylor Tweedale was born in 1895 in Rochdale, Lancashire, the son of Samuel Tweedale and Elizabeth Titter, who were married in 1894 in Rochdale. He was raised in a professional household, his father working as a law clerk — a career that Clement himself would later follow.

1901 Census

According to the 1901 Census, the Tweedale family lived at 50 Charlotte Street, Rochdale. Samuel, aged 29, was employed as a Solicitor’s Clerk, and his wife Elizabeth, also aged 29, managed the household. Their two children were Clement, aged 6, and Alice, aged 5. All were recorded as having been born in Rochdale.

Family

1911 Census

By the time of the 1911 Census, the Tweedale family had moved to Swansea, settling at 5 Sketty Avenue. Samuel, then aged 38, continued to work as a Law Clerk, and Elizabeth, aged 38, remained at home. Their son Clement, aged 16, was also employed as a Law Clerk, following in his father’s footsteps, while his sister Alice, aged 15, was working as a Nurse Girl.

The move to Swansea placed the family within the growing professional middle class of the area, and Clement’s early employment suggests a promising future before the outbreak of war changed his course entirely.

Military Service

Attestation Papers

Clement was among the early volunteers to enlist, joining the army in September 1914. He served with the King’s Royal Rifle Corps, 16^th Battalion, a unit that formed part of the 100^th Brigade, 33^rd Division. The battalion saw heavy fighting throughout the war, including major actions on the Somme, at Arras, and during the Third Battle of Ypres.

By late 1917, the 16th Battalion was operating in the Flanders sector following its involvement in the Third Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele). The battalion endured exhausting conditions in the waterlogged front lines near Ypres, alternating between trench duty and rest periods in the rear. In November and early December 1917, the King’s Royal Rifle Corps were also involved in supporting actions linked to the Battle of Cambrai, holding defensive positions and countering renewed German attacks following the collapse of the British offensive there.

Clement rose to the rank of Acting Corporal, demonstrating both leadership and commitment in the field. His Attestation Papers, which have survived, provide valuable details of his enlistment and service — a rare survival given the destruction of so many records during the Second World War.

Death

Army Registers Soldiers' Effects 

Acting Corporal Clement Taylor Tweedale died “in the field” on 2^nd December 1917, during this difficult period of trench holding and defensive operations on the Western Front. His death came in the aftermath of the Battle of Cambrai, one of the most significant British offensives of the war, which marked the first large-scale use of tanks in combat. Though the precise circumstances of his death are not recorded, it likely occurred amid the constant shellfire, poor weather, and hazardous front-line conditions that characterised the late stages of the 1917 campaign.

Burial

Clement Taylor Tweedale
Mendinghem Military Cemetery
credit - findagrave

Clement Taylor Tweedale was buried at Mendinghem Military Cemetery, Belgium, one of three cemeteries established near casualty clearing stations close to the Ypres Salient.

Legacy

Acting Corporal Clement Taylor Tweedale’s name is commemorated on the St. Paul’s Church War Memorial, Sketty, among the men of the parish who gave their lives in the First World War. Born in Lancashire but raised in Swansea, his story reflects the wider national nature of Britain’s wartime sacrifice — men from across the country united in service and remembered within their adopted communities. His surviving service papers and burial in Belgium stand as enduring reminders of a young life devoted to duty and ended too soon.