George Herbert Clifton

George Herbert Clifton

Born	(1898-09-18)18 September 1898 Napier, New Zealand
Died	13 March 1970(1970-03-13) (aged 71) Taupō, New Zealand
Allegiance	New Zealand
Service/branch	New Zealand Military Forces
Years of service	1919–1953
Rank	Brigadier
Commands held	6th Infantry Brigade
Battles/wars	Waziristan Campaign Second World War Battle of Greece Battle of Crete North African campaign
Awards	Distinguished Service Order & Two Bars Military Cross

Brigadier George Herbert Clifton, DSO & Two Bars, MC (18 September 1898 – 13 March 1970) was a senior officer in the New Zealand Military Forces and a three-time recipient of the Distinguished Service Order.

Clifton joined the New Zealand Military Forces in 1915 but was too young to serve abroad during the First World War and was posted to the New Zealand Staff Corps. He was seconded to the Indian Army from 1918 to 1921 and served in the Waziristan Campaign. Returning to New Zealand he held a series of staff posts as well attending military courses. He volunteered to join the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force (2NZEF) upon the outbreak of the Second World War. Initially the brigade major of the 5th Infantry Brigade in 1940, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and appointed commander of the Divisional Engineers, 2nd New Zealand Division. He participated in the Battle of Greece as well as the early fighting in North Africa for which he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order and bar. Given command of the 6th Infantry Brigade in February 1942, he was captured during the fighting around El Alamein in September 1942.

As a prisoner of war, Clifton made a total of nine escape attempts including from camps in Italy and Germany. His last escape attempt saw him reach American lines in March 1945 and his exploits as a prisoner of war were recognised with a further bar to his DSO. After the war he served on the staff of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force in Japan, commanded a training school, and was posted to the War Office in London. His final appointment before retiring from the New Zealand Military Forces in 1953 was as commander of the Northern Military District. He became a sheep farmer in later life and spent his final years as a city councillor in Taupō. He died in 1970 at the age of 71.

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There are probably 10,000 stars for every grain of sand on Earth in the observable universe. We know that there might be trillions of planets. So where are all the aliens? This is the Fermi Paradox. If you want to know more about it, watch part one. Here we look to the possible solutions to the Fermi Paradox. So will we be destroyed or does a glorious future await us? Space travel is hard, over possible it's an enormous challenge to travel to other stars. Massive amounts of materials have to be put into orbits and assembled. A journey of maybe thousands of years needs to be survived by population big enough to stop from a scratch. And the planet might be not as hospitable as it seems from afar. It was already extremely hard to set up a spaceship that could survive the trip. And interstellar invasion might be impossible to pull off. Also consider time, the universe is very old. On Earth there's been life for at least 3.6 billion years. Intelligent human life for about 250,000 years. But only for about a century have we had the technology to communicate over great distances. There might have been grand alien empires that stretched across thousands of systems and existed for millions of years and we might just have missed them. There might be grandiose ruins washing away on distant worlds. 99% of all species on Earth have died out. It's easy to argue that this will be our fate sooner or later. Intelligent life may develop, spread over a few systems and die off over and over again. But galactic civilizations might never meet. So may be it's a unifying experience for life in the universe to look at the stars and wonder "Where is everyone?" But there is no reason to assume aliens are like us or that our logic applies to them It might just be that our means of communications are extremely primitive and outdated. Imagine sitting in a house with a morse co-transmitter, you'd keep sending messages but nobody would answer and you would feel pretty lonely, may be we're still undetectable for intelligent species and we'll remain so until we learn to communicate properly. And even if we met aliens we might be too different to be able to communicate with them in a meaningful way. Imagine the smartest squirrel you can, no matter how hard you try, you won't be able to explain our society to it After all from the squirrel's perspective a tree is all that sophisticated intelligence like itself needs to survive. So she learns cutting down whole forest is madness but we don't destroy forest because we hate squirrels. We just want the resources The squirrel's wishes and the squirrel's survival are no concern to us. A Type 3 civilization in need of resources may treat us in a similar way. They might just evaporate our oceans to make collecting whatever they need easier. One of the aliens might think for second "Ughh tiny little aches, they built really cute concrete structures, oh well now they're dead." before activating warp speed. But if there is a civilization out there that wants to eliminate other species, it far more likely that it will be motivated by culture rather than by economics. And anyway it will be more effective to automate the process by constructing the perfect weapon, a self replicating space probes made from nano-machines. They operate on molecular level incredibly fast and deadly, with the power to attack and dismantle anything in an instant. You only need to give them four instructions. One, fine a planet with life. Two, disassemble everything on this planet into its component parts. Three, use the resources to build new space probes. Four, repeat. A doomsday machine like this could render a galaxy sterile in a few million years, but why would you flight light years to get the resources or commit genocide. The speed of light is actually not very fast, if someone could travel at the speed of light, it will still take 10,000 years to cross the milky way once and you'll probably travel way slower. There might be way more enjoyable things than destroying civilizations and building empires. An interesting concept is the Matrioshka Brain. A mega-structure surrounding a star, a computer of such computing power that an entire species could upload their consciousness and exist in a simulated universe. Potentially, one could experience an eternity of pure ecstasies without ever being born or sad, a perfect life. If built around the red dwarfs, this computer could be powered for about ten trillions years. Who would want to conquer the galaxy or make contact with other life forms if this were an option. All these solutions to the Fermi Paradox have one problem. We don't know where the borders of technology are. We could be close to the limit or nowhere near it. And super technology awaits us, granting us immortality, transporting us to other galaxies, elevating us to the level of gods. One thing we do have to acknowledge is that we really don't know anything. Humans have spent more than ninety percent of their existence as hunters-gatherers. 500 years ago we thought we were the center of the universe. 200 years ago we stopped using human labors as the main source of the energy. 30 years ago we had apocalyptic weapons pointed at each other because of political disagreement. In the galactic time scale we are embryos, we've come far but still have a long way to go. The mindset that we really are the center of the universe is still strong in humans, so it's easy to make arrogant assumptions about life in the universe. But in the end, there's only one way to find out right?

Early life

Clifton was born on 18 September 1898 in Greenmeadows, near Napier, the son of an immigrant from the United States. He received his primary education at a school in Wairoa and attended Pahiatua District High School before taking civil service examinations. However, rather than pursue a business career, he decided to join the New Zealand Military Forces in 1915. He was one of New Zealand's regular annual intake of 10 cadets to enter the Australian Army's Royal Military College in Duntroon in the Australian Capital Territory.^[1]

Military career

On graduation from Duntroon in 1918, Clifton was posted to the New Zealand Staff Corps. Although the First World War had not yet ended, he was too young to serve abroad with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. Instead he was stationed as an instructor at Trentham Military Camp before becoming aide-de-camp to Major General Alfred Robin, the commandant of the New Zealand Military Forces. In late 1918, he was seconded to the Indian Army^[1] and served on the Derajat Column during the Waziristan Campaign on the North-West Frontier of India. During his service, he was awarded the Military Cross. His secondment ended in early 1921 and he returned to New Zealand and resumed his duties with the New Zealand Staff Corps.^[2]

Clifton held a series of staff posts with the Territorial Force while seeking a further secondment to India or, failing that, a post with the Royal Engineers. In aid of the latter goal, he was sent to England to attend the School of Military Engineering. Back in New Zealand by 1926, he was promoted to the rank of captain and appointed adjutant of engineers, signals, and mounted units in the Auckland region. He commenced a two-year course at the Staff College in Camberley in 1932, after which was attached to firstly, the Committee of Imperial Defence, and then the War Office in London. He returned to New Zealand in 1935 and posted as a staff officer at the headquarters of the New Zealand Military Forces.^[2]

Second World War

When the Second World War broke out, Clifton was the duty officer at the military's headquarters in Wellington and dispatched the orders that mobilised the New Zealand Military Force.^[3] Promoted to major shortly afterwards,^[2] he was an instructor at Narrow Neck Camp in Auckland during the period in which the first echelon of the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force (2NZEF) was being raised. He was initially selected to command 24th Battalion, 6th Infantry Brigade, but this was reconsidered when the commander of the 2NZEF, Major General Bernard Freyberg, decreed that the battalion commanders of the brigade be under the age of 35; Clifton was 41.^[4] However, when offered the post of Brigade Major for the 5th Infantry Brigade by its commander, Brigadier James Hargest, he gratefully accepted.^[5]

Clifton embarked for the Middle East with the second echelon of the 2NZEF, the bulk of which were the troops of the 5th Brigade in early May 1940. However, following the invasion of France, and the entry of Italy into the war, the convoy transporting 5th Brigade were diverted to England, where it arrived in mid-June.^[6] The brigade would form part of the defences in the south of England, in anticipation of the expected invasion by German forces.^[7] A few months after his arrival in England, Clifton was appointed commander of the Divisional Engineers^[8] and promoted to lieutenant colonel.^[2]

Along with the 2nd New Zealand Division, Clifton participated in the Battle of Greece. This resulted in a defeat for the Allied forces which were forced to leave the country to avoid capture by the Germans. During the evacuation, he commanded the divisional rearguard,^[9] which was designated 'Clifton Force'.^[10] Traveling onto Egypt after being transported to Crete, he missed the subsequent Battle of Crete.^[11] He was later recognised for his services in Greece with the Distinguished Service Order (DSO).^[12]

North Africa

Back in Egypt, the 2nd New Zealand Division underwent a period of refit and training before it was assigned to the British Eighth Army, which was then engaged in the North African Campaign. It took part in Operation Crusader in November 1941 where the Eighth Army attempted to break through to Tobruk.^[2] Clifton earned a bar to his DSO^[13] during Operation Crusader when, during the Battle of Sidi Rizegh, he led a convoy of supply trucks which delivered vital ordnance to artillery units shelling advancing elements of the Afrika Corps.^[14]

In February 1942, Clifton was promoted to brigadier and given command of 6th Infantry Brigade which, at the time, was in Syria along with the rest of the division. However, following the attack on the 8th Army's Gazala Line by Panzer Army Africa, the 2nd New Zealand Division was dispatched to the lines of El Alamein and while its 4th and 5th Brigades went south to Minqar Qaim, the 6th Brigade, was initially held in reserve before being ordered to man the Kaponga Box at Bab el Qattara. The brigade remained here, watching first the retreating British stream by and then the Germans, at a distance, for several days before moving to Amiriya.^[15] It missed the action of 14–15 July at Ruweisat Ridge which saw the destruction of a large part of the 4th and 5th Brigades.^[16] The 6th Brigade was recalled back to the El Alamein lines to relieve what was left of the 4th Brigade. A few days later, it was involved in a nighttime attack on the El Mrier Depression. The aim was to secure the depression to create a route through which British armour could penetrate.^[17] The brigade successfully achieved its objective and was consolidating its positions when the 21st Panzer Division attacked on 22 July.^[16]

At daylight, the tanks of the 21st Panzer Division caught Clifton's brigade headquarters which, along with 24th and 25th Battalions, was positioned in the relatively shallow El Mrier Depression. Firing from the edge of a low cliff overlooking the depression, the Germans caused heavy losses amongst the infantry battalions before passing through their positions in pursuit of the British armour. Over 900 men were either killed, wounded, or captured including the majority of 24th Battalion and half of the 25th Battalion. Clifton, with his brigade headquarters, had been among those captured.^[18] Removing his rank insignia, he pretended to be a medical orderly. That evening, he played dead and managed to escape.^[19] The remnants of Clifton's brigade moved to the southern section of the Alamein line where it manned defensive positions during the Battle of Alam Halfa, Rommel's failed attempt to cut off the Eighth Army.^[20]

On the night of 3 September, the brigade was involved in a nighttime attack during which the commander of its 26th Battalion was mortally wounded.^[21] With the battalion leaderless and disorganised, Clifton tried to restore order. He approached what he thought were friendly troops only to find himself in the hands of the Italian 185th Folgore Division. Debriefed personally by the commander of the Panzer Army Africa, Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel, Clifton was taken away afterwards by truck but promptly jumped out to try and escape. Chased down by the guards, he was recaptured only to give them the slip again. He walked for five days to El Alamein before he was noticed by the crew of a German tank and captured. Taken before Rommel again, he was threatened with a firing squad if he was to escape again. He was flown to Italy the next day.^[22]

Prisoner of war

Held in a prisoner of war camp, Clifton soon managed to escape and made his way as far as the Swiss border before being recaptured.^[23] Transferred to a punishment camp at Gavi, he made three further escape attempts, the last of which was in September 1943 and involved the digging of a tunnel with 60 other prisoners. Detected before they could break out, the prisoners were moved to a camp in Germany. While en route, Clifton jumped from the train transporting them through Germany. His escape was short lived and while hiding in a bush near the train tracks, he was shot in the leg and stomach by a guard. Other prisoners, under guard, retrieved him and dressed his wounds.^[24] Taken to a hospital, he was treated for his wounds; the bullet, which had lodged in his stomach, was later given to him as a souvenir. In March 1944, after recuperating for four months, he was placed in a camp near Hadamar which was specially designated for recidivist escapees.^[25]

His last escape attempt was in March 1945, when he managed to make his way over several barbed wire fences and evade guards. Disguised as a labourer from Holland, he was able to reach advancing American troops and, having established his identity, was flown to England^[26] and then onto New Zealand, he arrived in April 1945 and was treated in a servicemen's hospital in Rotorua.^[27] He received a second bar to his DSO^[28] for his exploits as a prisoner of war, having made a total of nine escape attempts from captivity.^[27] However, shortly after his return to New Zealand, his wife, Doris, died.^[29]

Postwar

After the war ended, Clifton was based in Singapore, working towards the reparation of New Zealanders that had been interned by the Japanese. In March 1946, he was posted to the staff of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force in Japan, where he remained for a year before returning to New Zealand to take up command of the training school at Trentham Military Camp. In his final years in the military, he was attached to the War Office in London for a time, and then commanded the Northern Military District back in New Zealand before retiring in 1953. The previous year, his book The Happy Hunted, an account of his wartime experiences, was published.^[30] In 1953, Clifton was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal.^[31]

Later life

In his retirement, Clifton took up sheepfarming^[32] in the Hawke's Bay Region for several years. In 1966, he shifted to Taupō where he became a city councillor.^[33] He died on 13 March 1970 and is buried in the Returned Servicemen's Association section of the Taupō Cemetery.^[34]

References

^ ^a ^b Grayland 1972, p. 155.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Grayland 1972, p. 156.
^ Pugsley 2014, p. 15.
^ Pugsley 2014, p. 28.
^ Pugsley 2014, p. 44.
^ McClymont 1959, pp. 30–32.
^ McClymont 1959, p. 33.
^ Cody 1961, p. 750.
^ McClymont 1959, p. 374.
^ McClymont 1959, p. 397.
^ Cody 1961, p. 128.
^ "No. 35396". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 1941. p. 7334.
^ "No. 35465". The London Gazette (Supplement). 24 February 1942. p. 893.
^ Murphy 1966, pp. 257–258.
^ Pugsley 2014, pp. 290–292.
^ ^a ^b McGibbon 2000, pp. 391–392.
^ Pugsley 2014, pp. 309–311.
^ Pugsley 2014, p. 314.
^ Mason 1954, p. 194.
^ McGibbon 2000, pp. 392–393.
^ Pugsley 2014, pp. 328–329.
^ Grayland 1972, p. 157.
^ Grayland 1972, pp. 157–158.
^ Grayland 1972, p. 158.
^ Grayland 1972, p. 159.
^ Mason 1954, p. 463.
^ ^a ^b Grayland 1972, pp. 159–160.
^ "No. 37274". The London Gazette (Supplement). 20 September 1945. p. 4684.
^ "Deaths". The New Zealand Herald. No. 25190. 1 May 1945. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
^ Grayland 1972, p. 160.
^ Taylor & Coddington 1994, p. 101.
^ McGibbon 2000, pp. 93–94.
^ Grayland 1972, p. 166.
^ "Cemetery Records - Clifton, George". Taupō District Council. Retrieved 15 February 2015.

Bibliography

Cody, J. F. (1961). New Zealand Engineers, Middle East. Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939–45. Wellington, New Zealand: Historical Publications Branch. OCLC 460192.
Grayland, Eugene (1972). More Famous New Zealanders. Christchurch, New Zealand: Whitcombe & Tombs. ISBN 0-7233-0335-5.
Mason, Wynne W. (1954). Prisoners of War. Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939–45. Wellington, New Zealand: Historical Publications Branch. OCLC 314967494.
McClymont, W. G. (1959). To Greece. Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939–45. Wellington, New Zealand: War History Branch. OCLC 4373298.
McGibbon, Ian, ed. (2000). The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Military History. Auckland, New Zealand: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-558376-0.
Murphy, W. E. (1966). 2nd New Zealand Divisional Artillery. Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939–45. Wellington, New Zealand: Historical Publications Branch. OCLC 460192.
Pugsley, Christopher (2014). A Bloody Road Home: World War Two and New Zealand's Heroic Second Division. Auckland, New Zealand: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-143-57189-6.
Taylor, Alister; Coddington, Deborah (1994). Honoured by the Queen – New Zealand. Auckland, New Zealand: New Zealand Who's Who Aotearoa. ISBN 0-908578-34-2.

This page was last edited on 15 August 2023, at 01:42

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