Sgt. Ralph Frank Clifford MID
British Army C Sqdn. Staffordshire Yeomanry
My grandfather, Ralph Clifford, served in the Staffordshire Yeomanry during the Second World War. He was in Squadron C and a sergeant. He served from 1939 until the end of the war. He was Mentioned in Dispatches for bravery but I am still to establish why. I only discovered this after he passed away and I was presented with a newspaper cutting covering the award. He was part of the war effort in El Alamein through to Tunis and was part of the D Day landings.
Every Christmas we had a family tradition of eating dates after dinner as a nod to his time in the Middle East. He was a loving and kind man and adored by his family. He lived a long and fruitful life in Birmingham and then Minehead. He was passionate about the Scouts and held the position of District Commissioner for the Sutton Coldfield Scouts. Ralph was a civil engineer and later in life he worked in finance until his retirement.
Ralph presented the Staffordshire Yeomanry Museum with a glass presentation case containing the Staffordshire Yeomanry military badges which can still be seen there today. He is also in a picture in a book on the Staffordshire yeomanry during the WW11 which is sold in the Museum.
He never spoke about the war and I very much wish I had known everything I have since discovered so I could say thank you and tell him that I am extraordinarily proud of him.
