Charles Thomas Clarence Belbin

Charles Thomas Clarence Belbin, known as Clarence, was born in Sheffield on 2nd February 1892. He was the oldest son of Charles Albert Belbin and his wife Kate Eliza, nee Dufty. Clarence’s father, who had been born in Sheffield, was Assistant Auditor for Sheffield Corporation; his mother had been born in Reading, Berkshire. They married in 1891, and had nine children in all: Clarence, Harry Lawrence, Harold, Eric, Ernest Douglas, Cedric, Irene Kate, Frank Argyle, and Winifred Mary.

At the time of the 1911 census, the Belbin family was living at 5 Argyle Road, Meersbrook, but by 1912 they had moved to a house called Moorhill, on Prospect Road, Totley Rise. Clarence was working for Sheffield Corporation as an auditor’s clerk. According to the Sheffield Daily Independent for 18th September 1915, he was also a well-known footballer and cricketer.

Clarence had joined the Territorial Force – the forerunner of the Territorial Army - for a 4-year term on 18th April 1910, serving in the 3rd West Yorkshire Royal Field Artillery. Although this term had expired in April 1914, Clarence was called up shortly after the outbreak of war because he was a former Territorial soldier. He attested in Sheffield on 8th September 1914, and two days later joined the 8th Battalion of the Rifle Brigade in Winchester - a battalion largely made up of volunteers who enlisted early in the course of the war. On 14th November, he was promoted from Private (Regimental Number S/3198) to Acting Corporal; he was then promoted to Corporal on 12th January 1915.

Clarence arrived in France on 20th May 1915. His battalion was involved in action at Hooge, Belgium, on 30th to 31st July. According to the Sheffield Daily Independent for 18th September, after he had been reported as killed in action, his parents were informed by the Red Cross he had only been wounded, and was a prisoner of war. Sadly, this information was not correct. On 25th September 1915, the Sheffield Daily Independent stated that he had died on July 30th in the German Field Hospital at Mecreu, from wounds received in action, and had been buried there on August 1st 1915. He was 23. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission records that he is buried in Harlebeke New British Cemetery, Harlebeke, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium. He is said to have been the first volunteer from the parish to die in the war.

Clarence was posthumously awarded the Victory and British War Medals and the 1914/15 Star. The Sheffield Daily Telegraph for 27th November 1915 reported that he was being recommended for a commission at the date of his death at the first battle of Hooge. He is commemorated on Norton War Memorial and on the Sheffield Municipal Officers Guild Roll of Honour.