Lance Corporal Clarence Garfield Page Memorial Tablet, Tamworth

This war memorial is a Gothic-shaped marble tablet dedicated to Lance Corporal Clarence Garfield Page, who was killed in action during the First World War. It has a plain design, without any decorative elements. The dedication to Page is inscribed into the surface of the marble and the letters blackened with lead. 

Page was born on Woodford Island on the Clarence River and attended the public school at Gresford. He attended St Andrew's College at the University of Sydney and was a Presbyterian student of theology.

As a single man, he enlisted on 25 September 1914 in the 3rd Battalion, 1st Reinforcement. His unit embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, on 22 December on board HMAT A32 Themistocles. He served at Lone Pine, where he was awarded the Military Medal for his military action. His brother, Private Thomas Page of the 3rd Battalion, was killed there on 18 August 1915.

The A.I.F. Project database states Clarence was a 27-year-old Private when he was killed in action on 22 July 1916, at Pozieres in the Somme Sector, France. He was buried in the Adanac Military Cemetery in France. At the time of his death, his parents lived in Peel Street, West Tamworth.

A memorial service was held for Clarence at the Presbyterian Church in Helensburgh around December 1916. He had served as a Reverend at the church for two years before enlisting (The Daily Observer, 17 January 1917). Given his close association with the church, it is possible the tablet was originally unveiled there. Alternatively, it could have been unveiled at Tamworth Presbyterian Church. It is now located in the Tamworth City Uniting Church, formerly Tamworth Methodist.

Do you know more about the origins of this war memorial? Learn how you can contribute to the NSW War Memorials Register.