Clifford Charles "Cliff" Burge (27 April 1892 – 14 August 1918) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Melbourne in the Victorian Football League.
He was killed in action in World War I in France.Hobbs (1984), p.160.
Family Clifford Burge was the son of Charles Abraham Burge (1863–1939),Deaths: Burge, The Argus, (Friday, 14 July 1939), p.12. and Emily Jane Burge, née Morris (1861–1947).Marriage: Burge—Morris, The McIvor Times and Rodney Advertiser, (Thursday, 30 October 1890), p.2.Deaths: Burge, The Argus, (Wednesday, 22 January 1947), p.2.
He had two brothers, Trevor Robert William Burge (1895–1953),World War I Service Record: Robert William Burge (221), National Archives of Australia. and Maxwell Lewis Burge (1899–1976), and two sisters, Emily Blanche Burge (1894–1895) and Emily May Burge (1897–1989).
Education He completed his education at Melbourne High School, where he was a member of the school's First XVIII.Demonwicki.
Football He played five senior games for Melbourne in 1914. He was already in the army by the start of the 1915 season.
In May 1919, an unidentified former Melbourne footballer wrote to the football correspondent of The Argus as follows:
Military service He enlisted in the First AIF on 19 February 1915.Service Record.]Amateur, "Football Gossip", The (Melbourne) Leader, (Saturday, 25 September 1915), p.20. He was promoted to Second Lieutenant on 2 November 1917.
Death Having fought at Gallipoli, and having survived a German gas attack in June 1918,Casualty List No.412. he was killed in action on 14 August 1918, aged 23, during fighting at Villers-Bretonneux, France, just three months before the end of hostilities.429th Casualty List.Died on Service: Burge, The Argus, (Tuesday, 27 August 1918), p.1; Death: On Active Service: Burge, The McIvor Times and Rodney Advertiser, (Thursday, 12 September 1918), p.2.Contents of letter to Burge's parents from Second Lieutenant Frank Steadman Hurrey: The Riponshire Advocate, (Saturday, 14 September 1918), p.3.In Memoriam: On Active Service: Burge, The Argus, (Monday, 14 August 1922), p.1.In Memoriam: On Active Service: Burge, The Argus, (Saturday, 14 August 1926), p.13.
His (temporarily buried) remains were exhumed in 1920, and he was re-buried at the Villers–Bretonneux Military Cemetery.Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
See also List of Victorian Football League players who died on active service
Footnotes
References
Hobbs, Greg (1984). 125 yrs of the Melbourne Demons: The Story of the Melbourne Football Club from 1858 to 1983, (Jolimont, Vic.), Melbourne Football Club. Holmesby, Russell & Main, Jim (2007). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers. 7th ed. Melbourne: Bas Publishing. Main, J. & Allen, D., "Burge, Clifford", pp. 26–27 in Main, J. & Allen, D., Fallen – The Ultimate Heroes: Footballers Who Never Returned From War, Crown Content, (Melbourne), 2002. World War One Embarkation Roll: Sergeant Clifford Charles Burge (28), collection of the Australian War Memorial. World War One Nominal Roll: Lieutenant Clifford Charles Burge, collection of the Australian War Memorial. Infantry: To be 2nd. Lieutenants ("Squadron Quartermaster-Sergeant Clifford Charles Burge, late 13th Light Horse Regiment"), Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, No.27, (Thursday, 28 February 1918), p.380. (Casualty List No.412) Roll of Honor: Victorian List: Wounded ("Lieut. C. C. Burge, Elsternwick (gas)"), The Weekly Times, (Saturday, 29 June 1918), p.32. The 429th Casualty List: Victorian Names: Killed in Action ("Lieut. C. C. Burge, Elsternwick"), The Mildura Cultivator, (Saturday, 14 December 1918), p.2. Australian Red Cross Society Wounded and Missing Enquiry Bureau files, 1914-18 War: 1DRL/0428: Lieutenant Clifford Charles Burge: 24th Battalion, Collection of the Australian War Memorial. World War One Service Record: Second Lieutenant Clifford Charles Burge (36), National Archives of Australia. Roll of Honour Circular: Lieutenant Clifford Charles Burge, collection of the Australian War Memorial. Roll of Honour: Lieutenant Clifford Charles Burge, Australian War Memorial. Lieutenant Clifford Charles Burge, Commonwealth War Graves Commission.]
External links
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