Background
Clifford Wilfred Jukes was born April 8, 1894 in Birmingham, England to Alfred and Annie Jukes. While few details describe his early life in England, census records reveal that he had eight siblings. Documents show that in 1902 Clifford and his brother, Leonard, moved to Canada as part of the British Home Child Relocation Program. Records reveal that they were very young, Clifford being just 8 years old, when the boys moved to New Brunswick through the Middlemore relocation program. They eventually were placed in a home in the Stanley area. As a young adult, he found work as a lumberman before meeting a young woman, Edna Green, who came from Plaster Rock. Edna and Clifford were married shortly before the war on April 30, 1913. At the time of his formal enlistment for service, Clifford named his mother, Annie, as his next-of-kin. As a result, something likely happened to the relationship or Edna may have passed away from illness. His service record illustrates that he eventually found work in Fredericton as a cook. It also reveals that he may have been in a relationship with a young woman named Elizabeth Briggs of Fredericton. Although Clifford identified himself as single on November 3, 1916, he would soon marry Ms. Briggs in April of 1917. Their daughter, Doris, would be born March 5, 1918, so it is likely that Clifford and Elizabeth had time together before he left to go overseas. Along with other Fredericton boys in the area, he began preparations for training shortly after enlisting with 236th New Brunswick Kilties and eventually left the fall of 1917. Clifford was described as having dark eyes, black hair, a dark complexion, while standing five feet eight inches tall. He was twenty years old.
Wartime Experience
On October 30, 1917, Private Jukes embarked from Montreal, Quebec aboard the S.S. Canada, landing in Halifax a few days later. According to records, on November 11, 1917 the S.S. Canada left port from Halifax, Nova Scotia for England, arriving November 17. Granted the rank of Lance Corporal, Jukes remained in England for the next four months until arriving in France with the 42nd Battalion March 7, 1918 just as the German Spring Offensive had begun. Over the next six months, Clifford stayed with the 42nd as Canadians held ground near Vimy and Arras, and as they began preparations for attacks in the summer of 1918. By September, the 42nd Battalion and Clifford were near Cambrai as part of the Battle of Cambrai. According to letters written home and published in the Daily Gleaner, the following account reveals what happened to Jukes in September:
“Dear Mrs. Jukes, it is with a heavy heart that I write these few lines about your husband, No. 1030308, Pte. Clifford Jukes, who was killed in action on September 29, 1918, during the battle of Cambrai. I was his platoon officer, and it is no exaggeration to say that he was one of the finest men in my platoon, both personally and as a soldier. He was in charge of a Lewis machine gun during the battle and did splendid work until hit by a piece of shell and mortally wounded. He died shortly after on the battlefield before he could even be moved. Although we all miss him greatly in the platoon it seems almost wrong to grieve for one who died so gallant a death for so great a cause. Such a death can only be a stepping stone to immortality. Please, let me know if there is anything else that I can tell you or do for you out here. I would be happy to try to find out anything else you would like to know about him. With kind regards, I am, yours sincerely, A.E. Andrews.”
Confirmed by this letter and by his circumstances of death record, on September 29 Clifford was wounded and ultimately killed by the same shell that reports also led to the death of fellow Fredericton resident Private Robert McArthur. Further news of his death would be reported in November suggesting that he passed away before his body could be moved from where he had been hit. Clifford would never meet his daughter, born earlier that year. He was twenty-three years old.
Lest We Forget
Private Clifford Wilfred Jukes is buried at the Mill Switch British Cemetery located near Cambrai, France. According to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Clifford is one of approximately 107 burials at this location.