On 13th October 1915, Mrs John Bidwell of Haddenham received a letter from the Australian Commonwealth informing her that her son, Private Clement Claud Driver, had been killed in the Dardanelles. The Ely Standard the following Friday reported that he was the 2nd Haddenham man to lay down his life for his country.

His mother, Hannah, had only recently married John Bidwell of Aldreth, who was probably the John Biddle recorded in Aldreth in 1911 as a single Farm Labourer aged 45, living with his mother, though in 1901 his name was shown as Bidwell. Hannah herself, born Hannah Rebecca Driver in Stretham, was recorded as a single woman with four sons between the ages of 1 and 21 in the 1901 census, of whom Clement was the third. By 1911 she was living in Mill End Haddenham, with two sons still at home: Clement, born in Waterbeach in 1894 and his younger brother Gordon.

Clement is one of the few of our soldiers whose Service Record is complete, as those of the Australia Infantry, which he joined, remained in Australia and so did not suffer the fate of so many of those of the British Army stored in London. We do not know when he emigrated. There is a record showing a C. Driver leaving Liverpool in May 1912 which may be him, as although the ship was destined for Canada, several other Haddenham men are known to taken this route to Australia, having crossed North America overland and sailed from San Francisco.

He joined up on 29th April 1915, and the details from his medical records show that he was 5ft 6¾ins tall, weighed 141 lbs, and his chest measured 35ins when expanded. He had a ruddy complexion, blue eyes and brown hair and was a Methodist.

After what seems to have been a rather brief period of training he embarked from Sydney with his unit on 16th June, joining the Anzac forces on the Gallipoli Peninsular on 4 August. He was killed in action on 29th of the same month, and buried at Lone Pine Cemetery, just 500yds south of Anzac Cove.

His will, dated 10th August, left all his property to Miss H R Driver of Haddenham, so he clearly did not know at this time that she had married, but also requested that Miss M Last, of Green Street, London should be informed in the event of his death. We will never know whether this lady, perhaps his sweetheart, ever heard the news.

His effects did not amount to much: postcards, birth bertificate, photos, 2 testaments, a hymn book and a notebook.

But we have copies of an interesting correspondence in 1920, between his mother and the Australian authorities over a pension, which she claimed other bereaved parents had received but she had not, as well as a gratuity of £100. Growing exasperated by the delays she experienced in getting responses to her letters, Mrs. Bidwell finally made an offer of ‘2 Glass Cases of Stuff [sic] Birds’ and a Gramophone. She received a letter in reply to say that while her claim was being referred to the Commissioner of Pensions in Melbourne, the stuffed birds and gramophone were not required.

There is no record of whether her claim for the gratuity was successful, but she was awarded a pension of £13 per year to be revied in 18 month’s time. She also received a memorial scroll & plaque, later known as the "Dead Man's Penny", "Death Penny", or "Widow's Penny" and a little booklet, “Where the Australians Rest”, describing the overseas war cemeteries which bereaved families would probably never see.

Rosemary Gorman